AN ALBANIAN man who was caught growing cannabis in Pembroke Dock re-entered the UK illegally last year after being released early from his drug production sentence in 2022.
Armando Beti was arrested as police raided an address on Dimond Street on October 3. Inside, they found a total of 594 cannabis plants growing.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Beti was previously jailed for 14 months in May 2022 for producing cannabis as part of “a significant operation in Cardiff”.
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Judge Geraint Walters said Beti had been released from his sentence early after notifying the Home Office he “wanted to return to his home country as quickly as possible”.
“The state therefore paid for the cost of your return to Albania,” Judge Walters said.
“We know that as soon as you could get around to it, you re-entered the United Kingdom, this time in a lorry.
“It’s a case of criminals taking advantage of a failed system.”
Beti was jailed for 16 months at Canterbury Crown Court for knowingly entering the UK in breach of a deportation order in August 2023.
The defendant then re-emerged in west Wales, at the cannabis factory in Pembroke Dock.
Prosecutor Alexandra Wilson said the plants found there could have produced up to 49kg of cannabis, which would have had a maximum estimated value of £196,000.
“I am trying to understand what’s happened to him because looking at the previous case, he’s spun out the exact same nonsense as he used before,” Judge Walters said.
“‘I only watered the plants’, ‘pressured in to doing it’, and the word ‘gardener’ used again.”
The judge said he was treating Beti’s explanations with “a pinch of salt”.
“You came out with the usual stock phrases that you are a ‘gardener’ who waters and knows nothing else,” he said.
“We are not completely naïve and know what criminal Albanian gangs are up to in this country, as do you.
“You are a repeat offender. You know what you’re doing, and you seek to use the standard excuses that the court hears day in, day out.
“You are plainly wedded to the criminal activities of the gang.”
Beti, 37, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis.
Caitlin Brazel, appearing for Beti, said his strongest mitigation was his guilty plea, which also indicated “an element of remorse and accountability for his actions”.
She added that he had been “a law-abiding individual” for 35 years, and was “under no illusions as to the seriousness of his offending”.
Beti was jailed for two years and eight months. Judge Walters added that it would be up to the Home Office if and when Beti will be deported.
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