Four men who travelled to the UK illegally have been jailed after they were caught working on a £400,000 cannabis farm in an abandoned hotel in Aboyne.
The group, all Albanian men, claimed they ended up working as “gardeners” at the huge drug cultivation to pay off debts to organised crime gangs.
Fabio Marku, 28, Arjel Leshi, 24, Gelvis Xhepa, 26, and Donald Xhepa, 29, have been remanded at HMP Grampian since being rumbled at the Huntly Arms Hotel on January 16 this year.
The illicit operation was uncovered by an architect who turned up there to do work earlier this year, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
He found the locks had been changed and, once inside the property, the man found 520 cannabis plants growing under dozens of lights.
Boxes upon boxes of soil stacked on top of each other were found in the old ballroom.
The four illegal immigrants from Albania were found by police on the same morning staying in one room of the 50-bedroom hotel.
The men each pled guilty to a single charge of being concerned with the supply of drugs when they appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The court heard how the part-owner of the hotel had last visited the disused building on December 4 last year when “all was in order”.
But when an architect and building contractor visited as part of sporadic repair works just six weeks later, they found the locks had been changed and the hotel taken over by the drug growers.
520 juvenile plants could have fetched up to £421,200 at full maturity
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told the court at a previous hearing: “Entry was forced and, within the front reception area, there was a large quantity of equipment, which had not been there previously.
“This included a number of large cylinder air filters, electrical equipment, transformer boxes, and lights.
“Within the ballroom there were PVC sheets erected in front of each of the windows and a large quantity of cardboard boxes containing bags of soil were stacked upon one another.
“A newly installed large power cable ran from the reception area to the lower ground floor.
“The attending architect followed the cable to the existing electric board within a cupboard in a small room on the lower ground floor at the rear of the hotel.
“This room was found to contain a number of lights suspended from the ceiling, above approximately 520 small green plants – each measuring about 8 inches in height and planted within their own compost pot.
“Also, within the room next to plants were a number of large water bottles, transformers and electric fans.”
The 520 juvenile plants each had a potential street value of between £220 and £810.
Altogether they could have fetched between £114,400 and £421,200 at full maturity.
When police arrived half an hour later, at 9am, the four men were found in an upstairs bedroom with “four single beds, a fridge and a heater in the middle of the room – along with various food items and personal belongings”.
They were taken to Kittybrewster custody suite and later cautioned and charged.
In reply, Glevis Xhapa told police “I only come to work two days ago but I had to leave because there was no work” and “I only came here to work, nothing else”.
The other three men had nothing to say.
Police confirmed there was no human trafficking involved and all four men came to work by their own free will.
The men’s position that their involvement was restricted to “working as gardeners” was not disputed by the Crown.
Since 2019, the hotel has not been occupied and a campaign group has been set up to save it from falling into further disrepair.
After lying vacant for years, Aberdeenshire Council recently took enforcement action – ordering the owner to make improvements.
Works resumed in March after Aberdeenshire Council chiefs issued the hotel’s Middlesex-based owners with an “amenity notice” to sort out the unkempt building.
Patrick Brelhany, defence solicitor for Fabio Marku, told the court that his client had travelled to the UK illegally and owed debts of around 15,000 euros when he was offered employment in Scotland.
“Due to the situation he found himself in, he accepted that job opportunity,” Mr Brelhany said.
“Mr Marku understands that it was his decision to enter the UK illegally, whereby he put himself in a vulnerable position.
“He was a low-level gardener but he accepts there is no alternative to a period of custody.”
Lawyer for Arjel Leshi, Atlanta Jack, said her client had initially wanted a “better life and to seek employment” in the UK.
“Mr Leshi believed the work would be in the building trade and it wasn’t until his arrival in Scotland that he realised the extent of what he had got himself involved in,” she said.
“He knows that he has done wrong and he is remorseful.”
‘There was certainly pressure involved’
Marcell Horvath, defence agent for Gelvis Xhepa, said his client had also been told he would be doing painting and decorating and “upon arrival found a very different reality”.
He added: “Mr Xhepa has made clear to me that he’s accepting his guilt and that he did participate in the offence – but there was certainly pressure involved.”
Solicitor for Donald Xhepa, Clare Ryan, said her client “owed significant debts to those who helped him get into the country”.
“As a result, he was offered employment in Scotland and took that opportunity,” she explained.
“Mr Xhepa felt he had to stay in that situation and he had no choice because he was concerned what could happen to himself or his family.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told the men they all shared culpability “to the same extent”.
“I can’t imagine the circumstances that someone has to live in to take the risk of coming to this country illegally,” she said.
“But nevertheless, the law is clear – even for those who work in low-level positions in enterprises such as the production of cannabis. It must result in a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff McLaughlin sentenced each of the four men to two years in prison, backdated to January 17 this year.
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