Albanian man put to work at Coventry cannabis factory after illegally entering UK - The Coventry Observer

Albanian man put to work at Coventry cannabis factory after illegally entering UK

Coventry Editorial 23rd Dec, 2019 Updated: 23rd Dec, 2019   0

AN Albanian man was put to work looking after a cannabis factory in a Coventry house within days of being brought into the country illegally.

But less than two days later police officers uncovered the operation when they went to check out a possible break-in, and Kleris Bregasi was arrested as he tried to escape.

Bregasi (23) of no fixed address, was jailed for five months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to producing a quantity of cannabis at a house in Belgrave Road, Wyken.

Earl Pinnock, prosecuting, said that on November 12 two plain-clothed police officers were in Belgrave Road in an unmarked vehicle when they noticed damage to the front door of a house.




Suspecting there had been a break-in, they went to investigate and looked inside through a smashed glass panel in the front door.

Their attention was diverted by a well-intentioned neighbour who had not realised they were police officers, at which Bregasi took the opportunity to flee from the house.


He got over a nearby fence into an alleyway and ran, but was caught and arrested.

The officers then went into the house where they found 53 cannabis plants with a potential yield, when mature, of between 1.4 and 2.8 kilos with a bulk value of up to £14,000 and even more in street deals.

When he was interviewed, Bregasi said he had been brought there three days previously and told to look after the plants, for which he had been paid £40, added Mr Pinnock.

Mohammed Riaz, defending, said Bregasi had travelled to this country illegally four days previously and was first taken to London and then to Coventry.

When he was taken to the house and told what he was to do, he was reluctant, but he was put under pressure and was told they knew where his family lived in Albania.

Bregasi said he had only been there for a day-and-a-half, and Mr Riaz said that, on any view, it could not have been more than a few days.

Sentencing Bregasi, Judge Peter Cooke told him through an Albanian interpreter: “You have, albeit for a short period of time, lent your support for payment to a commercial cannabis production facility.

“That is serious, and demands custody. But you were prevailed upon to do this by people who were more criminally sophisticated than you, and you were performing a limited role under direction.”

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