Officers followed a trail of breadcrumbs and discovered cannabis farms potentially worth more than £300,000
Ferdinant Pjetri(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man claimed that he was an innocent painter and decorator after he was caught inside a £120,000 cannabis farm. Ferdinant Pjetri made his protestations after police found him in the kitchen of a house which had been transformed into a factory for the production of the class B drug.
Officers then followed a trail of breadcrumbs which led them to an even more lucrative grow. A second man, Danjel Markaj, was found hiding in the loft of this property.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Wednesday, that Merseyside Police executed a search warrant at an address on Tennyson Avenue in Rock Ferry, Wirral, at around 10.30am on November 20 last year. Five of the rooms within had been given over to the production of cannabis, with Pjetri being found in the kitchen.
Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, described how the 97 plants seized had a potential yield of between 2.7kg and 8kg, drugs with a value of £10,500 to £122,000. Officers meanwhile discovered documentation relating to a second property on Town Lane in Tranmere, which was also then searched.
This house contained a total of 147 cannabis plants which were growing in four different rooms. This operation had a potential yield of 4kg to 12kg, valued at between £16,000 and £185,000.
Markaj was detained after being found in the loft with a pair of blue gloves and a bag of fertiliser. A Greek driving licence in Pjetri’s name was also seized by PCs.
Danjel Markaj(Image: Merseyside Police)
Under interview, he told detectives that he was “simply at the address as a painter and decorator”. The 23-year-old also claimed that he did not know who owned or rented the property and refused to disclose where he lived, as well as the password to his phone.
Markaj meanwhile made no comment when interviewed following his arrest. Both defendants, who are of no fixed address, have no previous convictions in the UK.
Emma Swindell, defending Pjetri, said that her client had been “instructed to water the plants”, adding: “The defendant was one of 12 children who were brought up in one bedroom in Albania. His parents are unwell, and they have very limited assistance from the state.
“It is fair to say that he grew up in substantial poverty in Albania. While there is no excuse for his actions, I ask the court to take his desperate personal circumstances into account.
“The defendant has shown genuine regret and remorse. This has been a wake up call for him. He is shocked by the sheer stupidity of his actions. He has no right to remain in the UK. He expects that he will be deported.”
Ferdinant Pjetri(Image: Merseyside Police)
Charles Lander, appearing on behalf of 25-year-old Markaj, told the court: “He is a failed asylum seeker. He came here with the intention of finding work and being allowed in this country legitimately. Regrettably, his application failed.
“He does not wish to name the person who told him about Town Lane. The cannabis was already being produced. He had not set up the system. He had no keys to the property.
“He was told he was going to receive money. He had only been there for a very short period of time before he was arrested. His time in prison has been made more difficult by the fact that he does not speak the language.
“He is a long way from home and he has had no contact with his family. He had worked in Albania in a cell centre. He has not yet been visited by the immigration department, but he expects to be deported.”
Markaj admitted production of cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool and assisted by an interpreter, he was jailed for a year.
Pjetri pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and possession of an identity document with intent. He was locked up for 15 months. Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: “In each case this was a commercial production in operation, obviously being set up by an organised criminal group. It is clear that this was for financial reward.”