Albanian duo jailed for 14 months each for growing cannabis in Sutton Bridge after drone footage prompted Lincolnshire Police raid

Two Albanian men who admitted growing more than 400 cannabis plants worth up to £350,000 at a house in Sutton Bridge were today (Monday) each jailed for 14 months.

Police raided the property on February 21 this year after a drone operator became aware of a large heat source, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Philip Plant, prosecuting, said officers gained entry by breaking some iron gates which were placed across a drive leading to the property.

Police found one man on the roof and another man hiding in the loft space, the court was told.

Mr Plant said a search of the property discovered a total of 423 cannabis plants.

A drugs expert estimated the cannabis yield at between 11 and 35 kilograms - with a possible street value of between £118,000 and £355,000.

Denis Xibraku, 24, and Halil Copani, 34, both of no fixed address, admitted a charge of producing cannabis, a Class B drug, between January 1 and February 22 this year.

The court heard both men had no previous convictions in the UK.

Neil Sands, mitigating for Copani, said he now faced deportation and just wanted to return to his family in Albania.

Mr Sands told the court Copani was taken to Boston after arriving in the UK and told he would have to work to pay off the £25,000 fee for entering the UK illegally.

"It is a sad story this court has heard many times before," Mr Sands added.

Leanne Summers, mitigating for Xibraku, said he arrived in the UK in 2019 and initially worked in a car wash after trying to claim asylum.

Recorder Justin Wigoder told both men: "I accept you were both employed as gardeners and caretakers of what was a highly commercial cannabis grow.

"This was a very professional criminal exercise. If police had not arrived there would have been crop, after crop, after crop."