An illegal immigrant who came over to the UK on the small-boat crossings has been jailed after police found him sitting on a £42,000 cannabis grow at a house in York.
Mandi Gela, 37, an Albanian national, was caught red-handed after police swooped on a property in Tang Hall and found more than 100 cannabis plants, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said officers also found sophisticated growing equipment including electric lamps and timers. Electricity had been syphoned illegally into the property in Sixth Avenue, where Gela was the sole occupant.
Gela, who was ostensibly hired by an organised criminal gang to look after or “warehouse” the huge grow, told police: “I know, I’m sorry.”
He admitted producing a Class B drug and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.
Ms Morrison said the 101 plants were estimated to be worth up to £42,000 depending on the crop’s yield.
She said Gela had an “operational role” in a commercial grow and that a note found at the property, written in Albanian, appeared to be a “running total”.
Neil Cutte, for Gela, said his client had spent most of his life working as a builder’s labourer in Albania. He had also done seasonal work in Greece.
“In the middle of last year, he came to this country illegally,” added Mr Cutte.
“He borrowed money and paid money to people to transport him to the UK. He came by dinghy across The Channel.
“He went to London to try and find legitimate work. He got a very small amount of cash-in-hand work in London for a brief period. He found himself apparently destitute without any means of supporting himself or accommodation.”
Mr Cutte claimed that Gela, who was in debt to the people who transported him to the UK, met two Albanian men in London who offered him “employment” in York.
“These men brought him to York to this house,” he added.
Should never have come
Mr Cutte claimed that the cannabis crop and the electricity abstraction was already in place when Gela arrived.
“He was told that he would need to be there for a year,” said Mr Cutte.
“He was given keys and a phone. He was told that people would bring him food and other items that he needed.
“His role was as a gardener to feed and water the plants and make sure the lighting was correct. How much he got paid, he was told, would depend on what money was made by others (from) the yield of the plants.”
He said that Gela, who was accompanied by an Albanian interpreter in court, spoke no English and the only time he left the house was to sit in a local park “to get some fresh air”.
“The people who came to this house from time to time were different people,” added Mr Cutte.
“He doesn’t know their nationalities, but [Gela claimed] they were not Albanian.”
He said that Gela intended to return to his parents in Albania once he had served his inevitable jail sentence.
“He should never have come here, he knows that: it was wrong, it was illegal,” added Mr Cutte.
Recorder Simon Jackson told Gela: “I’m satisfied that when you took on this role, certainly when you arrived in York, you would have known that the men who offered you this work were part of a wider criminal organisation.
“You were given sole responsibility for safeguarding these premises… and you were in possession of a substantial amount of cannabis.”
He said that Gela had played a “significant” role, albeit under “strict parameters”, in the cannabis grow. Gela was handed a two-year jail term – a reduced sentence because of his remorse and mitigating factors.
He is expected to be deported back to Albania after serving his sentence.