Hartlepool drugs den pair jailed after Raby Road police raid

Two of the properties in central Hartlepool had interior walls knocked through for the drugs den – where 578 cannabis plants were growing on a commercial basis with sophisticated watering systems - and there were signs that there had been a previous crop.

Cleveland Police were raiding the Raby Road farm on January 23 when a white Peugeot van pulled up outside before driving off at speed, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Following a short pursuit, Albanian pair Vladimir Cela, 32, and Kreshnik Sulvovari,36, were arrested.

Cela, who was the driver, had receipts in his pockets from a company which sold hydroponic equipment to water the plants.

The plants could produce up to 48 kilos of cannabis worth up to £486,000, said prosecutor Daniel Ingham

The men now face a Proceeds of Crime confiscation case to seize any assets they may have.

Martin Scarborough, defending Cela, said in mitigation that there was no evidence that they had been involved in an earlier grow and that both were of previous good character.

Paul Abrahams, defending Sulvovari, said that it would be his first custodial sentence and it would be served in a foreign prison.

Cela was jailed for 41 months and Sulvovari for 39 months after they pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis.

The judge, Recorder Anthony Kelbrick, told the pair, who appeared over a Video link from Durham Prison, that they would serve half the sentence with a reduction for time spent on remand.

They face likely deportation back to Albania afterwards