Drug dealers jailed after turning former NIGHTCLUB into giant cannabis factory
A PAIR of drug dealers were jailed after turning a former disco into a giant dope factory growing £1million worth of cannabis on three floors.
Adriatik Carja, 24, and Astrit Caka, 26, planted more than 1,800 cannabis plants on the dancefloors which once throbbed to the sounds of disco fever.
The dopey pair converted bars and dance floors of the Apollo nightclub in Porth, South Wales, into a cannabis farm - just three months after it closed.
Officers were given a tip-off and found the first floor was being used as a nursery for newly potted plants.
The other two floors were being used for plants in the mid-to-late stages of growth.
Mature plants discovered on the top floor were ready for harvest and bound for the streets.
Expertise and energy was needed in order to set this up and keep it going
The dope factory was using enough electricity to power three streets of terraced houses.
But the "cannabis farmers" had cleverly bypassed the electricity meter to hide their operation.
Albanian immigrants Carja and Caka were found living in "comfortable living space" with beds, cooking facilities and a fridge - in which officers found a stash of beer.
Evidence showed that they also reared chickens at the factory for food.
Prosecutor Eugene Egan said: "This was a sophisticated operation.
"Expertise and energy was needed in order to set this up and keep it going."
The pair had travelled 1,700 miles from Albania to work at the disco drugs factory - where 100kg of cannabis was being grown.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how they had hidden on a lorry in order to get into the UK.
Carja and Caka admitted producing cannabis but claimed they were being held at the factory against their will.
But they were each jailed for 16 months after a court heard they could leave whenever they wanted.
Judge Richard Twomlow told them: "I accept there were pressures on you to become involved in this.
"You were being used by other people you refused to name higher up the chain."
Carja and Caka face deportation after their prison sentences.
The drugs and paraphernalia were also ordered to be forfeited and destroyed.
