Jailed: Live-in cannabis gardener caught trying to escape on roof of giant Wolverhampton drugs factory
A cannabis farmer who tried to escape a police drone by clambering on the roof of an industrial unit crammed with thousands of plants has been jailed.
Meta Alban was living in the unit at Bilston's Reliance Trading Estate, Livingstone Road, and tending to 681 plants which had a street value of £252,000 when he was arrested in February.
The two neighbouring units also were cannabis crops but were controlled by other criminals, together the three cannabis factories landed West Midlands Police one of its biggest ever hauls of cannabis in the region. The Express & Star joined the police raid.
On February 21 Wolverhampton Police mounted a raid on the units, which were so big officers needed a drone to fly around the premises as their high-tech eyes and ears among the forest of cannabis plants.
The flying machine spotted Alban trying to escape through a hatch in the roof.
Prosecutor James Purser told Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday: "Officers came equipped with a drone due to the size of site. Officers could hear signs off life inside the unit and forced entry. In the first two units officers found more than 1,000 cannabis plants.
"The drone was deployed into the other units and officers were able to see an individual escaping from the premises, he could be seen escaping through a hatch in the roof. He then could be seen running around the roof trying to make good his escape. That individual was this defendant."
The cannabis farm was "labyrinthine" with different rooms packed with plants, hydroponic lights and fans, as well as having living quarters for the live-in gardeners like Alban. There was "fresh food" which the gardeners lived on.
After opting to give no comment during his police interview, the Albanian national decided to plead guilty to producing a Class B drug cannabis. He denied diverting the electric from the National Grid to power the cannabis farm, and the CPS agreed for that charge to lie on file. The 33-year-old has been remanded in custody since his arrest.
Mr Purser said: "We accept the defendant was just part of the operation and not those who set up the sophisticated operation."
Curtis Myrie, defending Alban, told the court his client was down on his luck when he accepted a job 15 days before the police raid.
He said: "He quickly realised, this live-in job was not what he had hoped for. He has family back in Albania and understands the mistake he has made. All he wants to do now is go back home to Albania."
Judge Simon Ward sentenced Alban, of High Street, Cradley Heath, to 15 months imprisonment.
He said: "Somebody was going to make a lot of money out of this cannabis. This was cannabis grown on an industrial scale. I understand that you were not the one who were going to earn huge profits. B However, if you decide to help these drug suppliers in this country as you go to prison.
"I have taken into account you previous good character and your guilty plea, so I am sentencing you to 15 months, you will be released after serving half, and minus the time you have already served on remand."