Witness helped smash £174K cannabis farm in Clipstone

Three men were seen transferring bin-bags from an address on The Circle to a parked transit van, on March 30, when a heat lamp was dropped, causing "momentary panic.”

Police arrived within five minutes and found Arben Capja and Odysseas Zatsais in the loft, with Kleant Kurani at the foot of a ladder, said prosecutor Steven Taylor.

Iliir Hysa tried to get away over the back garden fence but was told to stop and he complied.

The house had been converted into a cannabis-growing operation with 208 plants, which could have fetched up to £174,000, depending on the yield.

More than 80 plant pots containing roots from a previous grow were also found and bin-bags in the van contained discarded stalks and leaves.

None of the defendants acknowledged knowing the others, while Hysa and Capja admitted entering the UK illegally.

Mr Taylor said messages on Kurani's phone suggested he had invested in the grow, and when Capja's address was searched, £11,600 in cash was recovered along with a notepad detailing sales in kilos.

None of the defendants have any previous convictions in this country, or in their home countries of Albania and Greece, and they pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Phillip Plant, mitigating, said Hysa was not a financier but had "some understanding of the operation," and "performed a limited function."

Capja's barrister said his best mitigation was his early guilty plea and conceded he played a "significant" role and “is remorseful for the situation he has put his family in."

Kurani's barrister said conditions in prison were hard, the profits were to be shared and Kurani had only been in the country for six months.

Capja, 28, of Broxtowe Drive, Mansfield, Hysa, 30, of The Circle, Clipstone, Kurani, 29, of no fixed abode, Doncaster, and Zatsais, 28, of no fixed abode, Mansfield, all pleaded guilty to cannabis production.

Judge Mark Watson said Capja and Kurani had "a high management control over the operation," while Hysa and Zatsais occupied "at least, important roles." Capja and Kurani were sentenced to 45 months. Hysa and Zatsais received 36 months.

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