Two men jailed after cannabis grow raid

Two men have been jailed after we caught them inside a cannabis grow in Stoke-on-Trent.

Erjon Dushaj, aged 31, and Zamir Geca, aged 34, both of no fixed address, were both handcuffed when officers went inside a commercial building on the Tunstall high street back in April.

We found 248 cannabis plants inside and 90 lights powering them across two rooms. Combined, they had a potential yield of 13.5-kilograms.

Zamir Geca (left) and Erjon Dushaj (right)

Both men were arrested and charged with drug cultivation offences after being questioned in custody.

They were sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Wednesday (3 July) to one-year imprisonment after admitting being concerned in the production of a controlled class B drug (cannabis).

Sergeant Chris Gifford, who worked on the case, said: “We’re continuing to root out drug cultivation and act proactively against those responsible for this type of criminality across Staffordshire.

“These types of grows are often run by sophisticated criminal networks who will look to exploit vulnerable members of the community for their own criminal gain. We won’t tolerate it and we’re going to continue to tackle these groups as robustly as possible.”

If you’re concerned about drug cultivation in your area, call us on 101 or use the Live Chat function on our website.

To report anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Tell them what you know, not who you are.