South Yorkshire house converted into £220K cannabis factory
Every available space, including the hall and stairs, was used to grow cannabis in a converted South Yorkshire house, Sheffield Crown Court has heard.
Police officers found Agim Pashaj living in the kitchen of the semi-detached house on Tooker Road, Rotherham, when they executed a search warrant, on November 29, last year.
Prosecutor Laura Marshall said that 22kgs of the drug, valued at £220,520, was discovered, and the set-up had a potential annual yield of 100kgs.
Suspicions were aroused when residents complained about low power and the electricity company notified police after they found electricity had been abstracted from the property.
Pashaj told police: "I found myself stuck in the UK as I didn't have enough money to travel home to Albania. Restrictions round Covid-19 meant I was struggling to find work.
"I was offered accommodation and food in exchange for looking after the plants."
He confirmed that he had not been trafficked or coerced, Ms Marshall said.
Drying cannabis was found in the hallway and stairs, along with fertiliser and cuttings ready for planting for the next crop, and CCTV monitored the front door.
Chris Brewin, mitigating, said Pashaj, who has no previous convictions, had been in the UK illegally for 15 months, working in delivery and construction.
"He found himself in a desperate situation and he took on this job of gardening for approximately two weeks," he said.
Pashaj, 49, currently of HMP Doncaster, pleaded guilty to cannabis production on January 4.
On Thursday, Judge Michael Slater sentenced him to 27 months in prison.