Albanian overlords hired 'gardener' to tend cannabis farm at Lostock Hall house

An illegal immigrant who was brought in by a drugs gang to tend a cannabis farm in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac was jailed by a judge in Preston.

Judge Robert Altham heard 20-year-old Orgit Arapi was employed as a “gardener” by his Albanian overlords and spent more than a month living alone with almost 400 plants in the neat detached house in Highfield Grove, Lostock Hall.

His meals would be delivered by a Romanian employee on a daily basis and he was promised wages after the crop had been harvested.

But the city’s Crown Court was told he didn’t receive a single penny for the “gardening” work he put in before he was arrested in a police raid on the house late at night.

Arapi, who admitted entering the UK illegally via the Republic of Ireland, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a young offenders’ institution after Judge Altham accused him of lying to the court about the level of his involvement in the operation.

Barrister Richard Flook, prosecuting, told the court that police attended the address at 11:45pm on March 23 this year after being alerted by residents.

They reported “suspicious activity” at the property with men regularly visiting and also a strong smell coming from the building. One neighbour thought the house was being burgled because a van had been reversed to the back of the driveway.

When officers arrived a man who had been inside tried to escape but was detained.

When police entered the property they found hundreds of cannabis plants in three of the rooms. They also discovered the remnants of a previous cannabis grow in the attic.

In all the “farm” had 385 plants which could have produced drugs with a street value of up to £288,000, said Mr Flook.

Judge Altham asked Arapi if he wanted to give evidence in his defence from the witness box to establish just how significant his involvement had been in the operation. The prosecution claimed his role was more than just a minor one.

Speaking via an interpreter he said he had come to Britain from Albania, but via Ireland. He entered the UK illegally into Scotland and met three men in a Manchester café who offered to pay him to look after a house near Preston.

He claimed he was promised payment at the end of the job but received nothing other than food – delivered to the door - during more than a month at the property.

He claimed he had been “duped” into working for the men, but insisted he had no idea what he was going to be paid and had not dared to ask.

“I haven’t been paid any money, only given food,” he said.

Judge Altham asked Arapi several times why he did not ask more questions about when he was going to be paid and how much. In the end he told the court: “I find it inconceivable that he didn’t ask how much money he was going to get.

“I am satisfied that he is telling me lies. I am satisfied that he would have expected (to receive) an amount of money, thousands of pounds a month.

“I am satisfied that that amounts to an expectation of a significant financial gain and (therefore) he will be sentenced on that basis.

“This was a very expensive set-up. This defendant is not telling me the truth. When a well organised and sophisticated and well-capitalised group set up a grow like this it is inconceivable they would put in charge someone who was not told how much he was going to get.

“He was clearly trusted by these people sufficiently to look after the crop. He was not only giving a considerable amount of time to the enterprise, he was also running a considerable risk.”

The judge ordered the cannabis plants to be destroyed.