Two Albanian growers of a cannabis plantation in a former kebab shop on the Rechtestraat in Lille, Belgium have been sentenced to thirty and forty months in prison. Police discovered a total of 1,045 cannabis plants there on March 26. After an anonymous report about a cannabis plantation in an empty fast food shop on the Rechtestraat, the police first investigated the building with a thermal camera.

Investigators also searched the former kebab restaurant in the center of Lille on Sunday, March 26. The police discovered there a cannabis plantation with a total of 1045 cannabis plants, spread over four cultivation rooms.

The building also contained growing containers for a total of 3,374 cannabis plant cuttings. Electricity has been illegally removed from the grid. O.K, a 35-year-old Albanian who was in the building at the time of the search, was arrested and questioned by the police. He stated that the plantation was already in use in December 2022 and that there were two harvests. According to the research, the total income reached 300,960 euros.

K. appointed another compatriot, 28-year-old A.M., as a collaborator, to take care of the cannabis plants. The court sentenced O.K and A.M to an effective sentence of thirty months and forty months respectively. They both must also pay a fine of 8,000 euros. The court has confiscated a capital gain of 100 thousand euros.