Two Albanian men who entered the UK illegally and ran cannabis farms in Gloucester where they cultivated thousands of pounds worth of the class B drug have been jailed. 

Andi Sela, 34, of Caesar Close, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, Bedfordshire was sentenced at Gloucester crown court yesterday (Apr 19) to forty months imprisonment while Xhavit Nelaj, 20, of no fixed address, received an 8 months sentence 

Prosecutor Susan Cavander said Sela was stopped in a car in Cheltenham on January 23, last year, and was found to be in possession of 455 grams of cannabis. 

Judge Rupert Lowe said he was surprised that Sela had been charged only with possession of the cannabis as there was so much of it. 

“That’s a big ol’ bag of cannabis! It seems pretty bizarre that Sela has only been charged with possession,” he said. 

Ms Cavender responded that Sela’s phone and home address was searched and there was no evidence of him doing any dealing in the drug. 
 
The prosecutor further explained that the landlord of a property in Victoria Street, Gloucester, went to check on his premises on September 6 last year and discovered a cannabis factory being operated from it. He immediately called the police. 

“The officers found a total of 65 cannabis plants growing at the property at various stages of development along with a professional set up using specialist equipment,” said Ms Cavender. 

“The value of this amount of cannabis is between £18,200 and £54,600, depending on how it was cut. A discarded cigarette butt found at the location led police to identify Sela through his DNA.  

“On December 21, last year, at around 3am police were alerted to a potential break in at the back of the King’s Walk shopping centre in Gloucester and went to investigate. Two Albanian men were milling around close to the entrance and were spoken to, but eliminated from the investigation into the break in. 

“The police then noticed that a doorway in Worcester Street was open and thought it could be connected to the break in. 

“The police went to investigate and found another cannabis farm in full production with 102 plants at various stages of development being found. The street value of cannabis, had they been allowed to continue to full growth could have yielded between £28,560 and £85,680, depending on how it was sold. 

Identification of the two Albanian men was undertaken by examining the phones found in the property and DNA evidence. Sela was identified from his DNA and Nelaj was identified through his mobile phone and DNA. 

Both men gave a no comment police interview but admitted their guilt at Cheltenham Magistrates Court the following day.

(Source: Glos News)