Hartlepool cannabis closed down at two farmers are locked up

Cleveland Police recovered 578 plants when they raided an address on Raby Road, Hartlepool, in January, and discovered the gang had knocked down adjoining walls to increase space for their illicit enterprise.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the two men, Vladimir Cela and Kreshnik Sulvovari, were arrested following a short police pursuit when they sped away from the scene.

Read next: Knife wound in Bishop Auckland stabbing didn't need to prove fatal, jury told

The 32-year-old Cela, who was the driver, had receipts in his pockets from a company which sold hydroponic equipment which was watering the cannabis.

Vladimir Cela (Image: Cleveland Police)

The judge said that they had played a significant role in the cannabis production in the town.

Recorder Anthony Kelbrick said that they had been supplied with a van and they were trusted to buy the equipment to set up the farm.

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 on September 1 to seize any assets they may have.

Kreshnik Sulvovari (Image: Cleveland Police)

Martin Scarborough, representing 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.

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

Cleveland Police forcing their way into the cannabis farm in Hartlepool. (Image: Graeme Hetherington, Newsquest)

Cela, of no fixed abode, was jailed for three years and five months and 36-year-old Sulvovari was locked up for three years and three months after they pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis.

The judge 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, when the Home Office would likely deport them back to Albania.

Officers carrying out a search of the premises on Raby Road, Hartlepool. (Image: Graeme Hetherington, Newsquest)

The raid was part of a week-long initiative launched by Cleveland Police to tackle the problem of cannabis farms in Hartlepool.

Cannabis plants were growing in rooms throughout the building and officers dismantled the specialist equipment that had been fitted to cultivate the drug.

In December last year, the force raided a number of addresses in the town as they attempt to disrupt the supply of the Class B drug.

One of the suspects being arrested following the raid. (Image: Graeme Hetherington, Newsquest)

Inside one of the properties they discovered a suspected Albanian illegal immigrant who was hidden behind a secret door on the ground floor of the terraces house.

Officers discovered that the electric meters in the properties had been bypassed and the gangs had taken effort to try and block windows to prevent prying eyes capturing what they were up to.

Read more:

• Convicted rapist jailed for failing to register TikTok and Snapchat aliases
• Care worker 'showing off' to undercover reporter by making derogatory remarks
• Darlington drug dealer jailed after being arrested four times in four months

​​If you want to read more stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here

Teesside Crown Court heard how one farm inside the derelict Corner House pub was connected to the ‘Albanian Mafia’.

When police raided the building in October, they discovered 816 cannabis plants worth £685,000 growing inside.

Two Albanian men, who were illegal immigrants, were looking after the plants in the boarded-up building on Avenue Road near the Hartlepool United ground and a probation office. One of them said that the drugs were linked to the Albanian Mafia and that they would kill him.