Four men jailed after raid on £3.6m a year cannabis factory in Southampton

Agron Elezaj, 27, of Jack Clow Road, London, Amarildo Sulaj, 23, of Stanhope Road, Doncaster, and Rexhino Koci, 26, and Damiano Saraci, 30, both of no fixed address, were sentenced at Winchester Crown Court yesterday. 

It comes after a large-scale police operation dismantled a cannabis factory at an industrial unit in Pitt Road, Southampton on January 11 this year.

In the early hours of the morning dozens of officers surrounded the property with dogs and drones. 

Using an angle grinder, they forced their way through a large metal shutter and into the property.

READ MORE: Southampton man jailed after £50,000 worth of drugs found behind ceiling tile

A pit bull terrier was being used as a guard dog but the force said it did not pose a threat. 

Koci, Elezaj and Saraci were arrested inside the unit but Sulaj attempted to escape. 

Running across the roof, he then fell through a neighbouring building, sustaining injuries to his ankles.

The cannabis factory in Pitt Road.

He was given first aid whilst police discovered the inside of the building had been "completely transformed". 

Over the couse of several days, the site was dismantled with 1,048 cannabis plants seized worth an estimated £900,000.

It is thought that yearly, the factory was capable of bringing in £3.6 million. 

DI Stuart Barton, the senior investigating officer for the operation, later said: “This factory is one of the largest we have seen in Southampton". 

He went on to say that dismantling it has meant the force has "removed a large cog in the drug production machine in Hampshire and caused massive disruption to the organised crime gang that was running it.

“Cannabis production on this scale is so much more than just ‘a bit of drugs’. It brings organised crime, serious violence, firearms and exploitation of children and vulnerable adults into our communities.

“The ramshackle electrical wiring also presented a huge fire risk which has now been removed.

“We are only able to carry out successful operations like this with the right information. This is why it is so important you tell us about drug dealing or production in your neighbourhood – even a seemingly insignificant piece of information could be the last piece in the puzzle.”

Police in Pitt Road during the cannabis factory raid in January.

Sulaj and Koci both pleaded guilty to playing a significant role.

Whilst Saraci and Elezaj pleaded to a lesser role in the production of a class B drug.

Sulaj was sentenced to four years and four months in prison and Koci received a four-year sentence.

Saraci and Elezaj were both given 20 months in prison.

Makeshift ventilation pipes and electrical wiring were running through a labyrinth of different rooms and lamps at the factory whilst fans were used to grow dozens of rows of plants across two floors.

A living area and bathroom were also found in a squalid condition, which were used by the four men.

The electricity being abstracted to power the factory amounted to £625.40 per day.

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