Gateshead cannabis farm across two adjoining homes was being 'gardened' by Albanian man
Agros Kraja pleaded guilty to producing cannabis after 415 plants were discovered in ten rooms in Gateshead
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA large cannabis farm sprawling across two adjoining properties was being looked after by an Albanian man.
Police executed a search warrant at adjacent homes in Whitehall road and Prince Consort Road, in Gateshead, on the afternoon of February 23 this year and found large drugs factories in both properties, which had access to each other from the inside.
Newcastle Crown Court heard ten rooms had been transformed into cannabis growing areas and the electricity supply had been bypassed. Agron Kraja was found in the Whitehall Road house and had a front door key and a video of the cannabis farm on one of the phones recovered from him.
A total of 415 plants were discovered, with a potential yield of 34 kilos, which would have been worth between £102,000 and £170,000, the court heard. The landlord said as far as he was aware the properties had been empty for four years.
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Kraja, 47, also known as Kraza, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis on the basis he had only been there for a few days and was acting as a gardener, with his only benefit being that he was allowed to live there. He was jailed for nine months but will be released having served that sentence on remand.
Jane Foley, defending, said: "He appears to have been put upon by others, no doubt because of his circumstances and perceived vulnerability. He has spent 33 weeks in custody."
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