AN Albanian ‘electrician’ was found minding a huge cannabis farm with drugs potentially worth more than half a million pounds when police raided a five-storey disused town centre shop.

Cannabis was found growing in eight rooms at the disused Chepstow shop
Cannabis was found growing in eight rooms at the disused Chepstow shop. Photo: Gwent Police (Gwent Police)

Artan Dedia, 36, was found ‘gardening’ the huge crop at the former TUI travel agency beside WH Smith on Chepstow High Street.

A synchronised police operation saw police burst in and arrest him at the same time as other officers raided a disused snooker hall in Pembroke Dock, where fellow Albanian Arsen Tanasica, 35, was found minding another farm with plants worth up to £1.2m at street prices.

Dedia and Tanasica both admitted the production of cannabis and were jailed for 12 months when they appeared at Merthyr Crown Court last Wednesday.

Prosecutor William Bebb said Gwent Police officers seized 652 cannabis plants in the raid in Chepstow on Monday, November 4.

Police found cannabis being grown on five floors in commercial premises in Chepstow High Street
Police found cannabis being grown on five floors in commercial premises in Chepstow High Street (Gwent Police)

When police smashed their way in shortly after 8am, Dedia was caught trying to escape via a back door.

He ‘smelt of cannabis’ and admitted to police he had been brought to the property to work as a ‘gardener’.

The electricity metre had been bypassed to provide light for the sophisticated ‘grow’ and Dedia’s fingerprints were on the equipment.

A drugs expert calculated that the 652 plants could realise a potential yield of up to 55kg – worth some £547,000 at street prices.

Officers discovered the factory was spread across eight rooms, including the attic, and dismantled hydroponic equipment used to grow the class B drug.

Dedia’s barrister Gareth Williams said his client was a qualified electrician and had a degree and family back in Albania.

He had travelled to the UK, but couldn’t speak English or find work, and became “influenced by others”.

Tanasica, who the court heard was a bookkeeper and was married with three children, owed money for his travel to the UK and £5,000 for a car he had borrowed and crashed, said his barrister Laurence Jones.

Jailing both, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said they will probably be deported back to Albania when released.

PC Hywel Evans, the officer in the Chepstow case and the town neighbourhood ward manager, said: “We supported Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, in carrying out this enforcement work as part of Operation Altar, which tackles the supply of illegal drugs.

A video still of the raid in the centre of Chepstow shows plugs in power sockets providing lighting for the cannabis farm
A video still of the raid in the centre of Chepstow shows plugs in power sockets providing lighting for the cannabis farm (Gwent Police)

“We identified this disused building in Chepstow as a suspected cannabis farm after receiving reports of suspicious activity from residents; and have now brought Dedia to justice.

“Every cannabis factory we dismantle helps disrupt these illegal operations, which are often linked to sophisticated organised crime groups.

There were more than 650 cannabis plants growing in the five-storey town centre building in Chepstow
There were more than 650 cannabis plants growing in the five-storey town centre building in Chepstow (Gwent Police)

“Our work stops the onward sale into our communities and prevents the profits from going on to fund other forms of crime.

“We encourage anyone with concerns about illegal drugs to get in touch, so that we can take action."

“You can contact us via the website, call 101 or send us a direct message on social media.

“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, with information or contact them via their website.”