Two illegal immigrants have been jailed after they were found looking after a £240,000 cannabis farm in a former restaurant.
Police executed a search warrant at Riverside Lodge, High Stanners, Morpeth, Northumberland, on October 9 last year. As the raid took place, Klodian Sulovari and Eldison Kalemi tried to escape via the roof, putting themselves and officers in danger, but were arrested.
Inside, police found 533 cannabis plants, 183 of which were well-developed and four to five feet in height. The other 350 were between two and three-and-a-half fee tall and there were also 224 cuttings about four inches in height.
Eldison Kalemi
(Image: Northumbria Police)
Police said the value of the cannabis farm could have been as high as £240,000 and there was evidence there had been a previous crop. Newcastle Crown Court heard Kalemi, 27, is an Albanian national in the UK illegally who was jailed for four months in May 2022 at Manchester Crown Court for producing cannabis. Sulovari, 45, also an Albanian illegal immigrant, has no previous convictions.
Klodian Sulovari
(Image: Northumbria Police)
They both pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and Kalemi was jailed for two years and Sulovari got 20 months.
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Cannabis produced by the pair
(Image: Northumbria Police)
Andrew Walker, for Sulovari, said: “The origin of his entrance to the UK was the simple desire of a family man to seek work to provide for his family. He was not the architect of this enterprise. He has signed the papers to voluntarily return to his country of origin when the time comes.”
Liam O’Brien, for Kalemi, said: “He came to the UK because it was the only way he thought he could provide for his family. His partner developed a brain tumour and was unable to work and his mother was very unwell.
“He believed he would be able to work in a lawful industry in the UK, in the construction industry. The only work he was able to find was the unlawful work which he accepted despite knowing it was unlawful.
“He is sorry for the trouble he has caused. He is desperate to return to Albania as soon as possible so he can support his family.”
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