Two men jailed over major cannabis farm worth £400,000 found during police raid at large industrial unit in Armley
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A court heard the plants were capable of producing around £400,000 worth of the class B drug.
West Yorkshire Police executed a drug warrant on Stanningley Road on Friday March 8 and arrested four men inside the building.
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Hide AdLeeds Crown Court heard the building is a large industrial unit and contained plants within eight separately partitioned rooms within the main part of the premises.
At the rear of the premises there was an annex building which appeared to have been a room adapted for residential use with beds and a TV.
The plants were growing under artificial lights and there was a further large quantity of cannabis found in a separate room being dried out.
Dmitrijs Adrianovs, 25, and Denisas Samuchovas, 42, both Lithuanian nationals, were among the men arrested at the premises.
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Hide AdAdrianovs was interviewed by police and stated that he had arrived at the premises on the March 7, the day before officers made the discovery.
He told officers he was responsible for cutting and drying the cannabis.
The defendant said he knew it was wrong as he was aware smoking it is illegal in the UK.
Adrianovs said he was paid £400 for his role in the cutting of the plants.
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Hide AdCCTV evidence was then examined which showed Adrianovs arriving at the premises in the passenger seat of a Vauxhall Zafira on the morning of February 20, 2019, and leaving later that evening.
He was also seen at the premises over the next two days, arriving at the site of his own accord and freely moving around the car park.
The court heard it was clear that his initial account relating to only being there on the previous day was false.
His details were circulated on the Police National Computer.
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Hide AdAdrianovs was arrested in Hull on December 13 last year in relation to an unrelated matter and was then transferred to Leeds.
He was interviewed again and stated that he was made to do the work in Leeds and that Samuchovas was the boss.
Adrianovs said he had not been paid for his involvement but had been threatened with violence.
The defendant said he was told not to give his real name if he was arrested and "everything would be fine".
Adrianovs, of Ernests Avenue, Hull, and Samuchovas, of Parkstone Avenue, West Park, Leeds, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.
Both were were jailed for 26 months.