1 week Ago By [email protected] (Mark Naylor)
Police found a "sophisticated" cannabis factory with hundreds of plants at various growth stages. The man who was looking after the plants had an axe next to his bed and there were also five large knives in the house. Adnan Refitaj, 37, who had been living at Chatterton Crescent, Scunthorpe, admitted producing cannabis on February 3.
Benjamin Donnell, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that police executed a search warrant at a semi-detached house in Chatterton Crescent and forced entry. It was immediately apparent that there was a cannabis grow there. Refitaj was found asleep in a bed at the bottom of the stairs.
He was arrested and a mobile phone was seized. There were 353 cannabis plants across four rooms and they were at various stages of growth. There was also a drying room.
"This grow was set up in a sophisticated manner,” said Mr Donnell. “There was specialist equipment to ensure a good continuous yield of cannabis. There were lights, fans, transformers, ducting — the usual cannabis growing paraphernalia.
” The estimated potential yield of the cannabis was £299,600 wholesale or up to £856,000 on the streets. The defence claimed that the potential value was much lower, however. The electricity had been bypassed.
“A number of weapons were found at the property,” said Mr Donnell. They included an axe near Refitaj’s bed and five large knives. Keep up to date with all the latest crime and court news from Grimsby and Scunthorpe with our free newsletter Refitaj, who is Albanian, later told police that he entered this country illegally under the guise of legitimate work but he claimed that, after arriving here on the back of a lorry, he was told that he owed £18,000 to people smugglers and that he could pay it off by working at the cannabis factory for six months.
He claimed that, when he arrived at the house, the cannabis grow was already set up and his role was to water the plants, crop them and look after them. He had been there for about a month before his arrest, he claimed. Eiran Reilly, mitigating, said that Refitaj played a limited role under direction and became involved through pressure.
He had been working in a restaurant in Greece but thought that he could earn more money by working in the United Kingdom. He was brought over to this country and was told that he owed £18,000 and that he had to pay it off. He was brought from Brixton to Scunthorpe.
“He has been exploited by drug producers, brought here from Greece and told that he had to do this job,” said Mr Reilly. “He had an expectation of limited gain. “He should never have left Greece.
He was doing well there and his family was doing well there. He wants to return to Albania.” Join the FREE Grimsby Live WhatsApp Community Get all the latest stories, sent straight to your WhatsApp - all you need to do is click the link .
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Recorder Peter Makepeace KC told Refitaj: “The operation was capable of producing significant quantities of cannabis for commercial use. This was an ongoing operation in which you anticipated being involved for six months. “It was a sophisticated operation.
The electricity had been bypassed. Of grave concern is that weapons were found in the premises. You could not have been unaware of the fact that they were there.
An axe was right beside you in that bed. It’s difficult not to conclude that it was there to be used if necessary. At the very least, it is a cause for concern and presented a risk.
” Refitaj, who was in custody on remand, was jailed for one year. “I do not know if you will be deported while detained or not,” said Recorder Makepeace..
