Albanian man jailed over Mile Cross cannabis growing

Gjergi Pjetri, 22, was arrested when police raided the unassuming terrace house on Mile Cross Road on July 27 last year. 

Norwich Crown Court was told four rooms at the property had been turned over to a sophisticated growing operation with 99 plants in various states of growth and the loft in the process of being converted.   

READ MORE: Huge cannabis farm found in Ranworth Road home in Norwich

Walls and windows had been lined with insulation, with heat lamps, a filtration system, electronic timers and a water butt fitted in the bathroom to irrigate the growing plants, said prosecutors. 

Network Power engineers called in by police discovered the electricity meter had also been bypassed. 

Police who raided the property found it had been converted into a sophisticated growing operation (Image: Newsquest)

Pjetri, who followed proceedings with the aid of an Albanian interpreter, was found with the keys to the property and an identity card. 

He later told police he had arrived in the UK illegally five months before his arrest after his family paid £20,000 to people smugglers to get him out of Albania due to a “blood feud”, the court heard. 

He appeared in court to be sentenced after early pleading guilty to the production of and cultivation of a class B drug. 

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Andrew Oliver, mitigating, said he had moved to Norwich after meeting men in London who promised him free accommodation in return for watering the plants.

“The reality is that he will likely be deported soon after he has served his sentence,” he added. 

Recorder Nicola Fitches said it had been a “professional cannabis operation” capable of producing large quantities. 

Jailing him for 26 weeks, she said he had been a limited function and that the cannabis plants had not belonged to him.  

“You said you had not been threatened but had felt pressured into taking part given that I accept you played a lesser role,” she added.