The judge said he and his fellow judges were surprised police did not ‘more vigorously’ investigate landlords of properties being used as cannabis plantations
Inside the Cromwell Street cannabis farm(Image: South Wales Police)
A judge has questioned whether laws about rental properties are strict enough after jailing a man caught working in a house which had been converted into a large cannabis farm. After smashing their way through a specially-strengthened front door of the terraced house police found the entire property had been given over to cultivation of the drug.
Jailing the man found working in the cannabis farm, the judge at Swansea Crown Court said he and his brother judges were all surprised that police are not are not putting “more effort” into identifying those running the cannabis growing operations and are not “vigorously pursuing” what arrangements are in place with landlords.
He said that politicians may want to consider whether laws are strict enough in terms of landlords carrying due diligence on who they were renting properties to.
Craig Jones, prosecuting, told the court that on April 9 this year police in Swansea executed a search warrant at a house in Cromwell Street in the Mount Pleasant area.
He said after forcing their way through the front door – which had been specially strengthened and barricaded to hinder access – officers found the entire property had been converted into a large cannabis operation spread across five rooms. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter
The court heard a man – now known to be the defendant Aldi Pire – fled out through the back door of the house as police came in through the front door but was quickly detained and arrested.
A search of the house found a total of 398 plants cannabis from infant plants up to mature specimens ready for harvesting together associated growing lights, ventilation fans, and other equipment. The court heard police estimated the value of the operation could be up to £171,000. Read about a London crime gang which took over a vulnerable woman’s house in Swansea to use as a base for drug dealing
Aldi Pire (Image: South Wales Police)
Aldi Pire, 34, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to producing cannabis when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
The court heard the defendant entered the UK 16 months ago in the back of a lorry “to make a better life for himself” but after a period trying to make it as a painter and decorator in London had been put to work in Swansea in order to pay off debts he owed.
Judge Geraint Walters said he dealt with similar cases on a weekly basis, and said Pire’s “criminal masters” had doubtless instructed him on what to say when arrested. He termed the basis of plea entered by Pire “the standard Albanian basis”.
The judge said he had not a shadow of a doubt that the gang running the Cromwell Street operation had already set up a replacement in another property somewhere, and said speaking for his brother judges in Swansea they were all surprised that police are not putting “more effort” into identifying those running the cannabis growing operations and are not “vigorously pursuing” what arrangements are in place with landlords.
He said that politicians may want to consider whether laws are strict enough in terms of landlords carrying due diligence on who they were renting properties to.
With a discount for his guilty pleas Pire was sentenced to 12 months in prison. He will serve no more than half that sentence in custody before being released on licence.