Yahoo News Huge drug factory found inside city nightclub
Cannabis plants worth up to £898,000 were discovered at a nightclub in Newport with the operation believed to be linked to an organised crime gang. More than 1,000 plants were discovered at the property with hundreds of pieces of equipment also found.
Sardi Hassani, 30, and Indrit Neziri, 25, were found working at the cannabis factory based at the Neon nightclub in Clarence Place on December 29 last year. Police raided the nightclub with a warrant issued under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard both defendants were arrested at the factory where there were eight growing rooms. Prosecutor Gareth James said there were a total of 1,361 cannabis plants with 151 lights, 145 transformers, 66 fans, and eight ventilator units.
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The cannabis plants were at different stages of growth, some were immature and some had female flowering heads. Mr James said the evidence supports an "ongoing production cultivation" and a "sophisticated setup" designed to produce significant quantities of cannabis which was likely to be part of an organised crime gang operation. The potential yield of the plants was estimated to be between 1,361 and 4,005 ounces with a potential value between £299,428 and £898,260.
Both defendants were interviewed and told police they had come to the UK from Albania and had run up debts which they were required to pay off. They said they had become involved with "unsavoury characters" who had threatened to harm them and their families.
Hassani and Neziri, both of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to cannabis production. Both were of previous good character.
Nigel Fryer, for Neziri, said his client was working to pay off his debt after being transported to the UK illegally. He said he will likely be deported back to Albania following his sentence. Emma Harris, for Hassani, said her client was also paying off a debt after arriving in the UK on the back of a lorry from France. He has a pending asylum application, which will likely be refused as a result of his conviction.
Judge Christopher Vosper KC sentenced both Hassani and Neziri to 36 weeks imprisonment each. He told the defendant they will likely be held in immigration detention following their release but that was a matter for the Home Office.
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