Judge warns student he faces being deported for role in Sunderland cannabis farm
An Albanian university student caught working at a £88,500 cannabis farm in Sunderland has been jailed.
Police raided a property at Ivanhoe Crescent last month and found 351 plants in four growing rooms and one drying room.
Newcastle Crown Court heard a drugs expert valued the potential yield from the illegal crop at between £19,000 and £88,500.
Pictures show the plants packed into rooms, with what appears to be specialist lighting, ventilation and growing equipment.
Musa Qaushi, 20, of no fixed address, who travelled to the UK on a tourist via, was arrested inside the property.
He admitted cultivating cannabis and has no previous convictions.
Mairi Clancy, mitigating, said Qaushi was studying for a degree in Albania and got involved through “naivety”.
She added that Qaushi, who was visibly upset during the hearing, was “enticed by the offer of money”, does not speak English and had no involvement in or knowledge of the wider criminal operation.
Judge Edward Bindloss jailed Qaushi for 20 months and told him: “These operations don't work without someone to cultivate, and that was your role.
“I anticipate the Home Office will deport you back to Albania.”