Three men have appeared in court accused of producing cannabis after more than 1,600 plants with a potential estimated value of almost £700,000 were seized from the site of a former west Cumbria care home.
Officers executed a drugs warrant at the property in Bookwell, Egremont, on October 12. After the massive haul — potentially worth more than £658,000 — was found inside the building, three men were subsequently arrested by police and charged.
All Vietnamese nationals — two aged in their 20s and one in the 30s — they jointly face one charge. This alleges that they produced a quantity of the class B drug on or about 12th October.
During a short hearing at Carlisle Crown Court earlier today, the men appeared over two separate video links. When asked in turn for a plea to the charge that they face, each answered through an interpreter: “I plead not guilty.”
They will now stand trial in front of a jury at the crown court. This is due to start on 28th March and, it is estimated, will last around four days.
Until then the three defendants, all of no fixed address, were remanded in custody by Judge Nicholas Barker.
*Also on October 12, in a separate incident, a huge cannabis farm with a potential yield of £1.6 million was found in a disused Carlisle building formerly used as a nightclub at West Walls, close to the city centre.
Two Albanian nationals were arrested. When they appeared at Carlisle magistrates’ court, Iirjan Jaho, 42, and 25-year-old Andiol Mucolli, both of no fixed address, subsequently admitted a charge of producing cannabis.
The two men were due to have been sentenced by a judge at the crown court today. But due to a number of difficulties, including the absence of an interpreter and the lack of a probation service pre-sentence report in the case of one defendant, the case was adjourned for 28 days. In the meantime, they will also remain in custody.
