TWO men have been jailed after police uncovered a drugs operation capable of producing up to £767,000-worth of cannabis.

Armed police raided a unit at Honeyborough Industrial Estate in Neyland on August 10 and found a “sophisticated growing operation,” prosecutor Harry Dickens said.

Inside the unit was a total of 914 cannabis plants that police experts estimated could have produced a yield of between 25 and 76 kilograms of cannabis. This could have a value of between £255,000 and £767,000 if sold in street deals, Mr Dickens said.

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Also inside the unit was two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a fully-stocked fridge, an office area, and a washing machine.

Flamur Vengo, 41, was arrested in the roof of the unit.

Due to its scale, it took officers several days to dismantle the cannabis farm. On August 13, Nertil Dallenga was found hidden within the insulation of the unit. He was in such a bad condition that he had to be taken to Withybush Hospital before being arrested.

Dallenga, 27, gave a no comment interview, whilst Vengo said he had met a group of people in a London coffee shop who had offered him construction work in west Wales. When he discovered it was a cannabis farm, he said he was told he couldn’t leave and threats were made against his family back in Greece.

Both defendants had one previous conviction – for producing cannabis – from 2022, after which Vengo had been deported. Mr Dickens said it was not clear when or how Vengo returned to the UK.

The judge, Recorder Simon Hughes, dismissed Vengo’s explanation to police as “pretty unbelievable” after hearing it was the same people involved as in his previous offence.

Ryan Bowen, for Vengo, said the defendant was “realistic about the sentence he is likely to receive”.

“Desperation is the cause of his behaviour,” Mr Bowen said, adding Vengo had come to the UK to earn money to pay for his daughter's medical bills.

Dan Griffiths, for Dallenga said the defendant accepted that he faced an immediate prison sentence.

“He’s an Albanian national who had entered the UK illegally. He was working for a criminal gang so as to discharge a debt,” he said.

“He doesn’t assert he was pressured in to doing this. He knew what he was getting in to.”

“He was clearly at the bottom rung of the ladder.”

Vengo pleaded guilty to producing cannabis, whilst Dallenga admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis.

The defendants, both of no fixed abode, were both jailed for two years, of which they will serve 12 months in prison before being released on licence.

“The reality, however, in both of your situations is once you are released, you will be deported,” Recorder Hughes said.