Blackpool cannabis factory gardener paid £15k to travel to resort to grow drugs

Julian Toto, of no fixed abode, helped cultivate enough plants to make 3,794 street drug deals during his three weeks acting as a gardener, Preston's Sessions House Court heard.

The 25-year-old Albanian national pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis on the basis he had been recruited in Belgium in order to pay off the debt, which had put him and his family in danger, and had paid £15,000 to travel to Lancashire..

Prosecuting, Jane Dagnall said police executed a warrant at a property on Devonshire Road in the resort at 9.55am on November 20 and had forced entry.

She added: " There was an immediate strong smell of cannabis."

Plants and equipment were found in three bedrooms and the loft, with a total yield of 172 plants and 26 seedlings - nearly 4kg in weight.

A forensic examination determined it could have been worth £37,940 on the street.

Jimmy Vakil, defending, said he had seen cases "time and time again" of people like Toto involved through "naivety" or being exploited by people above in the chain.

He said :" The traits which show an offender to have performed a lesser role are the traits which existed in this man, and it's precisely those sorts of traits which those higher up in the chain look for when putting people under their direction, in the circumstances he was, to do the work he was doing.

"He owed a £15,000 debt and he and his family were at risk as a result of that debt.

"He's terrified about going back to Albania."

Sentencing, Judge Philip Parry said it was a "well set up and sophisticated cannabis factory" but added: " I accept it wasn't your operation.

"Sometime in October you were in Belgium and I'm told you were recruited there to travel to the UK to assist in the cultivation of this cannabis factory, effectively to care for the plants and to ensure they grew strong and produced a significant yield, and you did that for about three weeks or so.

"If it wasn't for people like you, cannabis factories like this wouldn't survive and so you've played an important role in the production of cannabis."