Three "warehousemen" caught with £138,600 worth of cannabis plants at Sheffield property
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on November 26 how Keigdi Hysa, aged 24, Kleivin Elezaj, aged 20, and Klajdi Berati, aged 23, admitted producing cannabis after a police raid on July 20 at the property on Abbeydale Road, Sheffield.
Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, said: "Entry was forced into the premises and upon entry the defendants saw the officers and ran upstairs and were detained."
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Hide AdPolice discovered 47 cannabis plants in a cellar, 133 sapling plants, 29 cannabis plants in a bedroom and 46 plants in the attic. according to Mr Outhwaite.
Mr Outhwaite said there was also equipment used for growing the drugs and the electricity system had been by-passed and the total value of the drugs was £138,600.
Hysa and Berati, of Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, and Elezaj, of no fixed abode, all pleaded guilty to producing the class B drug cannabis.
Daniel Chadwick, defending Albanian-speaking Hysa, said he is a man of previous good character who came to the UK in 2016 to play professional football but his father became ill and he was forced to take a construction job.
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Hide AdHysa lost his job as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, according to Mr Chadwick, and became involved in the production of cannabis.
David Watts, defending Albanian-speaking Elezaj, who has no previous convictions, had paid money to come to the UK and had been working in London before he became involved with cannabis production.
Amy Earnshaw, defending Greek citizen Berati, who has never been before the court, had been doing labouring and farm work and had worked in London but lost employment because of the Covid-19 crisis and he was offered work in Sheffield.
Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, The Recorder of Sheffield, said: "They were, each of them, the warehousemen of a criminal enterprise at Abbeydale Road, Sheffield.
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Hide Ad"The criminal activity was a cannabis production plant. The yield of the cannabis would have been in the vicinity of just under £140,000. It was, unquestionably, a professional operation."
Judge Richardson sentenced Hysa and Elezaj to two years of custody and Berati was sentenced to 20 months of custody.