A MAN has been jailed after he was caught growing 70 cannabis plants at a city house.
Shpetim Maloku, 45, was arrested hiding in a nearby garden after police raided the property on Cecil Sharp Road in Newport last month.
When he was questioned, the defendant revealed how he’d been forced to work for an Albanian drug gang who threatened to hurt his family.
Maloku told detectives he had arrived in the UK from Albania on a travel visa 18 months and was working at a car wash in Luton.
The defendant was offered a job in construction by fellow countrymen but was taken to Newport and put to work as a cannabis farmer in Cecil Sharp Road.
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Emma Harris, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: “It was a sophisticated operation.
Shpetim Maloku
“He was told to water the plants every three days. He was allowed to phone his family in order to tell them he was safe.
“But they took away his phone and his passport from him and they told him they would return every few days with food for him.
“The defendant said he'd been at the address for 10 days.
“When asked why you didn't leave and ask for help, he indicated it was due to fear and fear for his family.”
Maloku admitted producing cannabis on March 26.
Stephen Thomas said the best mitigation he could put forward was his client’s guilty plea.
Judge David Wynn Morgan told Maloku: “It is quite evident that you were recruited by more criminally sophisticated individuals to work as a gardener at these premises.
“These criminals used you to avoid being detected themselves and avoid the consequences of being detected which is an inevitable custodial sentence.
“You performed a lesser role.”
The defendant was jailed for eight months and told his visa would be revoked and he faces the likelihood of immediate deportation.
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