A MAN has admitted playing a limited criminal role in cannabis production after an estimated £350,000 worth of the drug was found at an address in Wigton.
Police confirmed seizure of the huge haul last month after a warrant had been issued to search an address in the town’s King Street on October 9.
And at Carlisle Crown Court, 26-year-old Albanian national Arnaldo Lleshhi – who had been arrested at the property on that date – admitted one charge of producing 460 cannabis plants between January 1 and October 9 this year.
However, Lleshhi told Judge Nicholas Barker, with the assistance of an interpreter, that his guilty plea was entered on a strict basis. “I do plead guilty to that,” he said over a video link from custody when the charge was read to him. “I was there for two days and when I went in the house I realised it was a cannabis farm.”
“He accepts being there for a few days,” his lawyer, Sean Harkin, confirmed to the court. “His basis of plea also sets out he didn’t know it was cannabis until he got there.”
Lleshhi’s case was adjourned until November 27, when he will return to court and learn whether or not the Crown Prosecution Service accept that basis.
He may also be sentenced on that date, and in the meantime was remanded in custody by Judge Barker.
