Prosecutor Brian Simpson said Dyfed-Powys Police raided a two-storey commercial property on Station Road in Ammanford on August 13.
Inside, they found it had been converted into a cannabis factory with 108 plants – all between four and five feet high – growing across two rooms.
“Sophisticated” growing equipment was seized from the address, and further checks revealed the electricity had been bypassed.
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Amarildo Lleshi was found hiding in the attic.
Mr Simpson said drug experts estimated the cannabis plants could have been produced a nine kilogram yield, which would have had a wholesale value of around £46,000 and a street value of “over £100,000”.
Lleshi pleaded guilty to producing cannabis. He admitted the offence on the basis that he had been ordered to tend to the plants, acting as a “gardener”, Mr Simpson said.
The court heard that Lleshi was an Albanian national and had come to the United Kingdom “illegally” in 2022.
The 33-year-old defendant, of Station Road, had no previous convictions in this country or in Albania.
“The defendant entered the country illegally in the hope of being able to make a better life for himself,” said Dean Pulling, in mitigation.
“He was working in various car hand washes around the UK. He had been taken to Ammanford a week before by others.
“It was a fairly cheek-by-jowl existence.
“He has never been in trouble before. He’s found custody very difficult.
“He wants to return to Albania as soon as possible when he has served his sentence.”
Judge Paul Thomas KC described Lleshi’s case as “an all too familiar story”.
“It is accepted you were there as a gardener, but this was a substantial enterprise,” he said.
Lleshi was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
“You will serve up to 50 per cent of that sentence before being released,” Judge Thomas told the defendant. “What happens then is a matter for other authorities.”
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