
A young Albanian man has ended up in prison in England after being caught in a "barnyard" worth around 100 thousand pounds.
Argjent Dedja, 24, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by a court in South Cumbria for his involvement in the production of cannabis at a flat in Barrow.
According to British authorities, he was part of an industrial-scale operation. In the four-room house, police found 196 cannabis plants, of which about 100 were mature.
The apartment was completely adapted for this activity: ventilation system, special lighting and illegal power connections. The windows were covered to hide everything.
Police intervened after a check and found the young man leaving the house half-naked, heading towards a nearby elementary school.
Dedja told investigators he had arrived in Barrow from London just the day before his arrest and that he had no knowledge of the cannabis. He claimed he only had access to his bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.
However, he admitted that he had entered Britain illegally after paying 10,000 euros to a group that organized the journey from Albania through Italy and France, to the United Kingdom by dinghy.
The prosecution said his role was smaller, but part of a well-organized drug production activity for profit.
Meanwhile, the defense emphasized that the young man had no criminal record and that he had only spent one day in that apartment.
Despite this, the court imposed an immediate prison sentence, arguing that there was a risk that he would engage in criminal activities again.
In addition to the prison sentence, he will also pay £400 in court costs and a £187 surcharge.
British police also confirmed that the cannabis and paraphernalia found in the apartment will be confiscated and destroyed.
The case, according to the media that reported the case, is another alarm signal for the involvement of Albanians in cannabis cultivation in Britain, often linked to trafficking networks and debts to criminal groups.