An illegal immigrant who was caught running a huge Aberdeenshire cannabis farm had more than £162,000 worth of plants – and claimed they were for personal use.
Donatas Kyliokas, 37, was snared when police found his DNA on a toothbrush at the rural outbuilding that was being used to store and grow hundreds of cannabis plants.
When police raided the property at Sunnyside in Fyvie they found a large-scale cannabis farm with 266 plants and saplings estimated to be worth a total of £162,780.
The illegal scheme first came to the authorities’ attention after eagle-eyed members of the local community reported concerns to Police Scotland.
Area commander for north Aberdeenshire Chief Inspector Jamie Harrison said: “They noticed things which implied there may be a form of criminality going on.
Police discovered suspicious items
“Things like a high electricity bill at the place, the windows were blocked out and lights being on for very unusually long periods of time.”
Suspicion grew further when officers discovered items related to cannabis cultivation discarded in a field, along with documents relating to the property.
He appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted one charge of producing cannabis plants.
Kyliokas also admitted acting in an abusive manner towards his former partner and pouring petrol over her front door and into her property.
‘Officers could smell cannabis emanating from within the outbuilding’
Fiscal depute Christy Ward told the court that on November 4 2020 police found bags and items related to the production of cannabis in a field near Fyvie and attended at the outbuilding.
She said: “They found that all the doors to the outbuilding were padlocked and one of the sliding doors appeared to have been sealed from the inside with expanding foam.
“All visible windows were covered by black sheeting.
“The officers could smell cannabis emanating from within the outbuilding and could hear a humming noise, which was suspected to be coming from fans.”
Police returned with a search warrant and forced entry to the outbuilding to find it had been separated into four different “growing areas”.
Inside they found 83 cannabis plants that had the potential to reach a maximum value of £67,230.
Officers also found 183 cannabis plant saplings that, if grown to maturity, had the potential to realise £95,580 in value.
Ch Insp Harrison said: “In this case, there was a fair amount of work done in order to actually bring the perpetrator to justice; to identify him and link him to the cultivation that was ongoing.
“That included forensic examination of the house, detailed searches looking for documents – literally searching through rubbish bins to find bills and letters – anything that might link people to the cultivation.
“Part of that is to gather evidence of the people we know are involved but also to identify anything that would link people further up the drugs chain to that cultivation.
“People we want to catch are the people that are managing and organising and steering these cultivations.”
DNA on a toothbrush and razor
Forensic work was carried out on a toothbrush and razor found at the site, which linked police to Kyliokas.
Enquires also revealed Kyliokas to be a Lithuanian national who had been denied entry to the UK in 2018.
Police arrested Kyliokas at Aberdeen International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Alicante.
Kyliokas also admitted pouring an accelerant liquid, believed to be petrol, onto the door of his partner which seeped into her property through the letterbox.
After hearing Kyliokas shout threats at his partner, a neighbour later found a milk carton containing a liquid that smelled strongly of petrol and contacted the police.
Accused got involved with ‘a serious operation’
Defence agent Christopher Maitland told the court that Kyliokas had initially told social workers that the cannabis was for “personal use”, but that this was “not true”.
He said his client had only been employed to “check” on the plants and suggested he was not the one in charge of running the illegal drug production operation.
Mr Maitland stated: “He was told to go the building to check on the cannabis plants and was supposed to be paid for that, but police discovered it before he even got there.
“But he accepts that what he did was to get involved with a serious operation.”
In relation to Kyliokas pouring petrol on his partner’s door, Mr Maitland added: “He absolutely did not intend to do that or carry out the threats he made.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Kyliokas that “both these cases are serious for different reasons”.
He said: “You appeared to become part of a large-scale cannabis operation and pleaded guilty to that case.
“You also behaved in an abusive way towards your partner and of particular concern is the incident in which you poured petrol over the front door of her property.”
Non-harassment order
Sheriff Miller sentenced a total of 27 months in prison backdated to November 15 last year. Twelve months of that sentence was in relation to the cannabis farm.
He also put a non-harassment order in place meaning Kyliokas could not approach his former partner for five years.
Reacting to the punishment handed to Kyliokas, Ch Insp Harrison said: “We welcome the sentence of Mr Kyliokas for 12 months, which is absolutely appropriate.
“The accused was part of a wider organised crime group and this wasn’t someone that was vulnerable or had been trafficked into a cultivation to manage it on behalf of other evil men.
“This was a guy that was running it and he wasn’t someone that was doing that against his will.
“Bad people that are involved in the supply of drugs need to be dealt with by the criminal justice system but there’s also a great big health issue around this.
“We need to make sure that we’re giving all the support we can to people with problem drug use.
“I’m really conscious of the trauma of anyone that becomes involved in drug use.”
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