A trusted “on-site farm manager” who was looking after and watering a huge secret haul of 358 cannabis plants, worth up to £250,000, quickly tried to flee out a window after police arrived at the house.
He arrived in this country illegally and was due to be paid a lucrative “tax-free sum” in wages as well as £500 for his food as rewards for his vital role in the “commercial operation” there, Grimsby Crown Court heard.
Lulzim Buzi, 20, who had been living in Moorwell Road, Yaddlethorpe, Bottesford, Scunthorpe, admitted producing cannabis on April 14.
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Craig Lowe, prosecuting, said that police executed a search warrant at a two-storey semi-detached house in Moorwell Road and entered the premises. The living room was being used as sleeping quarters and the kitchen was stocked with food.
Buzi, who is Albanian, was detained but he tried to climb out of a dining room window. He was arrested and the house was searched. “The electricity had been bypassed and had to be isolated by an engineer,” said Mr Lowe.
There was lighting, ducts and fans and the total number of cannabis plants across four rooms, including the attic, was 358. The potential street value was between £112,000 and £250,000.
Buzi told police that he had nothing to do with setting up the cannabis factory or abstracting the electricity. He claimed that he had been approached about six weeks earlier and asked if he wanted to earn £2,000 a month for looking after the plants.
“He was happy to do so,” said Mr Lowe. “He had been given £500 for food during the time that he lived at the address. He was due to get paid £2,000 a couple of days after police attended.
“He accepted that he was in the country illegally and willingly engaged in the cannabis production because he was hungry and needed somewhere to sleep. He was desperate, apologised and knew what he did was wrong.
“There must have been a clear understanding and awareness of the scale of the operation and an expectation of at least £2,000 for doing his role. It’s an operation capable of producing a significant quantity for commercial use.”
Emma Coverley, mitigating, said that Buzi had no previous convictions and had been in custody on remand for four-and-a-half months. “He has come over to the United Kingdom with little support, albeit there is an uncle who resides in London,” said Miss Coverley.
“He has found himself in pretty desperate circumstances in this country. There has been some cash-in-hand work that he has undertaken with a friend but, clearly, because of his status in the country, he has not been able to undertake any permanent work.
“His idea that he would be able to earn money in this country to take back to Albania was not realised. He speaks very little English. He did accept in interview that he did produce cannabis plants.
“There is no evidence that he had awareness of the total scale of the operation. He was performing a limited function under direction. There may well have been an element of either naivety or exploitation in this case.”
Judge Michael Fanning told Buzi: “You were caught there trying to climb out of a window. Three rooms and the attic were given over to what was a sophisticated cannabis farm. There were 358 plants in there capable of yielding up to a quarter of a million pounds in street value.
“There has been significant investment in turning what was a house into a factory and there would have been repeated yields over a period of time.
“You were an illegal immigrant who paid to enter the United Kingdom illegally. You can have had no expectation of being able to work legally once you got here.
“You put yourself in the position where, if you were offered this type of work, you almost certainly have to take it. You were offered £2,000 a month to water the plants.
“You were the on-site farm manager and had been for a period of six weeks and you were being paid for that, in effect, a tax-free sum of money a month. Accommodation was provided and your cost of living was being met by your having £500 paid.
“Without your role, those plants would not have survived. You had to have an understanding of the scale of this operation because you could see it every day. The personal advantage and the financial advantage was clearly significant.
“This is a commercial operation capable of producing large quantities for commercial purposes.”
Buzi was sent to a young offenders’ institution for 20 months.
“At the end of it, you will almost certainly be detained pending your removal to Albania,” said Judge Fanning. “That’s for the immigration authorities. It’s not a matter in which I have any input.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
