Flimby cannabis farm: Man became "live-in gardener" to pay off debt

Albion Ukperaj admitted producing cannabis and was sentenced to 11 months in a young offenders' institution

An illegal immigrant was put to work in a cannabis farm to pay off his debt to people traffickers, a court has heard.

Albanian national Albion Ukperaj, 20, was a "live-in gardener" of the farm at a house in Flimby, near Workington, after incurring a £16,000 debt.

Carlisle Crown Court heard police found 200 plants worth £100,000 when they raided the Brook Street house in May.

Ukperaj admitted producing cannabis and was sentenced to 11 months in a young offenders' institution.

The court heard the police raided the home on 29 May following concerns from neighbours and found a sophisticated growing operation which included ventilation, electrical equipment and foil-lined walls. The electricity supply had been bypassed.

The cannabis farm was a sophisticated growing operation

Neighbours had described seeing two other men arriving in a van two months earlier and delivering a large amount of equipment to the house.

Ukperaj, who had been promised gainful work from which he hoped to send cash to family back in Albania, had "kept himself to himself" while in Flimby, and was seen neatly dressed, visiting a local shop and buying both pizza and phone top-up cards, the court heard.

He admitted producing the class B drug between 1 March and 29 May, after arriving in the UK via Hungary.

Judge Andrew Jefferies QC concluded Ukperaj had played a lesser role in the illegal enterprise and that he was "hardly a free individual in the true sense of the word".

He told him: "You were effectively a live-in gardener for those who were running a larger drug supply conspiracy.

"Those who engage with criminals to enter this country must have some awareness that they may be required to engage in criminal activity once here."