2 days ago
Gardener who tended to £200,000 cannabis factory was caught when police found a set of keys
A gardener who came to the UK illegally in order to make money was found to be tending to a cannabis factory with plants worth up to £200,000. There were four growing rooms in a house which contained more than 400 plants.
Blloshmi Albi, 33, was stopped by a police officer while he was travelling as a passenger in a car on February 2 in Cardiff. He was searched and was found in possession of a mobile phone and a set of keys.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard the keys belonged to a house in Heathfield Place, Cathays, and the phone contained images of a cannabis factory. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
READ MORE: Town to lose pub that's been there for centuries
READ MORE: Couple hoping to open restaurant told they can't offer takeaway service
The property was searched and the whole house had been given over to the production of cannabis.
A total of 94 mother plants were discovered in four growing rooms, and there were 330 saplings in a nursery area.
Prosecutor James Evans said there was evidence of an earlier crop which had already been grown.
The plants found in the address were found to have an upper value of £200,000.
Albi, of no fixed abode, later pleaded guilty to cannabis production.
The court heard he was of previous good character.
In mitigation, the court heard the defendant had spent 91 days on remand in custody.
It was said he had entered the country illegally in order to "make money" and became involved in the enterprise as a gardener.
Sentencing, Judge Carl Harrison described the cannabis factory as a "sophisticated commercial set up".
Albi was sentenced to eight months imprisonment.
The Home Office will decide whether the defendant will be deported following the end of his sentence.
