Two men who struggled to find jobs in the UK were busted after a cannabis factory was uncovered by police. Bekim Prengzaj and Avni Boufi, from the Black Country, have been locked up after officers found them near a property converted into a drugs farm.
They now face possible deportation after confessing to their crimes. Police went to the scene and spotted a suspicious car parked nearby on May 18.
Both men were detained at the scene before officers raided the property. The men said they got involved in the drugs ring after being unable to find legal employment in the UK.
Officers discovered multiple rooms devoted to the ‘sophisticated’ drugs-growing operation in Cowick Lane, Exeter, DevonLive reports. Exeter Crown Court heard how rooms which did not contain cannabis had large televisions and living facilities for people to stay.
The set-up covered most of the building and the electricity meter had been bypassed, prosecutor Felicity Payne said. The living facilities suggested neither of the defendants had been coerced into their roles, she said.
Prengzaj, 32, and Boufi, 30, were both arrested in connection with the county lines drug conspiracy. Officers also discovered Prengzaj had £451 cash on him at the time, while Boufi had £323.
It was later revealed they had made about 10 trips from the West Midlands to Exeter before their arrests. Prengzaj, of no fixed abode, said he came to the UK four years ago and had been waiting for the result of his asylum application for the past two years.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/men-who-struggled-find-jobs-26028924
