Pair face deportation after Northumbria Police raid cannabis farm near Sunderland
Two illegal immigrants found working in a commercial scale cannabis farm have been jailed and face deportation.
Police raided a property at High Street, Easington Lane, in July after a tip off.
Newcastle Crown Court heard officers found 270 plants growing across several rooms alongside specialist heating, lighting and ventilation equipment.
Pictures and video show dozens of tall, leafy plants, capable of producing “significant” amounts of the illegal drug, packed into growing areas.
Albanian nationals Adriatik Cela, 49, and Elton Rustemi, 40, were found inside the building, where the electricity had been bypassed, and were arrested.
Prosecutor Claire Armstrong said the property contained four self-contained units and two of them contained “growing rooms” while a third was used as living quarters.
Cela, who entered the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry and Rustemi, who arrived hidden in a car, both admitted cultivating cannabis.
Cela, who represented himself, told the court via an interpreter: “I apologise to this court for my offence.”
Tony Cornberg, defending Rustemi, said: “He came willingly, seeking a better life.”
Mr Cornberg said Rustemi was offered work at the farm by some fellow Albanians, who transported him there and provided food.
The court heard the farm and equipment was already in place and the defendants followed orders when they got there.
Recorder Harry Vann jailed both men for 12 months and said they each face deportation, which they have volunteered for.
The recorder said: “270 plants were found, capable of producing significant quantities of cannabis for commercial use.”