Debt-ridden man in search of better life caught after cops hear buzzing

Pictures of the cannabis farm police discovered in Cheltenham today
-Credit: (Image: Gloucestershire Police)


A debt-ridden man who arrived in the UK on a boat has been jailed after he was caught inside a Stoke-on-Trent cannabis factory. The 35-year-old was inside the former office in Hartshill Road, Hartshill, when police forced their way inside.

They found 114 cannabis plants in three rooms. Karay told police he was taken to the address as he owed a 50,000 euros debt in his homeland of Albania.

Now Asim Karay has been jailed for 12 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. Prosecutor Sam Magee said police forced their way through the back door of the former Uninsured Loss Recovery Services office in Hartshill Road, Hartshill, at 4.40pm on June 17.

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Mr Magee said: "There were three rooms of cannabis plants and extractor fans. The downstairs room had 56 plants, there were 36 in the upstairs front room and 22 in the upstairs rear room. There were 114 plants in total. The defendant was arrested."

In his police interview Karay said he came to the UK two years ago from Albania. He had accrued a 50,000 euro debt. He was approached by an Albanian man and told to pay the debt or grow cannabis. He was taken to the Hartshill address on April 17.

Karay, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the production of a class B drug.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said Karay came to the UK on a small boat two years ago. Mr Muldoon said: "He was in debt to those who provided the transport. He was approached by an Albanian and told to either pay the debt or go and work for them. He did go and work for them.

"He is sorry for what he did. He did not come to this country to carry out illegal activity. He came to seek work in order to better his life and his father's life who remains in Albania."

Recorder Sunil Khanna said: "Police forced entry to the property due to the smell of cannabis and a buzzing sound that could be heard.

"There were 114 plants. You were inside. You were interviewed the next day and admitted being in the UK illegally, having arrived on a small boat. You were brought to the address in April and you tended the grow in order to pay the debt you owed in Albania.

"The 114 plants were capable of producing significant quantities for commercial use."

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis plants.

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