Dealer with £85,000 worth of cannabis at Leeds house caught out by Tesco and Argos receipts

Illegal immigrant Ardi Pula denied any involvement, but the police used the time and dates on the receipts found inside the property on Malvern Street to check the stores' CCTV, which showed him making purchases. Among the items bought was security equipment to help protect the Holbeck property.

He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week. Police had raided the semi-detached on the morning of November 30 last year where they found plants had been stripped and dried, along with vacuum packed bags of the class B drug. There was a total of 8.5kg with an estimated street value of £85,000.

Although there was nobody in the three-bedroom property, they found a fake Polish ID card, and a forged Greek ID card and driving licence bearing the photo of Ardi Pula. They also found a wallet containing the name 'Ardi', £3,000 in cash, designer clothes, and the receipts.

Having removed the drugs, the police left the property and returned hours later in the hope of catching the occupant. When they drove past at 2pm they stopped after spotting four men in the garden, one being Pula, who was arrested.

During the 24-year-old's interview he gave a prepared statement, claiming he worked as a cleaner but denied ever being inside the house. Further investigations suggested he had also sent more than £6,000 back to Albania.

He later admitted dealing in cannabis, possession of criminal property and possession of fake ID documents.

Mitigating on his behalf, Glenn Parsons said like many Albanians, he had come to the UK illegally with the hope of finding legitimate work and had no intention of turning to crime. But he said that Pula "fell on hard time" and was "recruited" to stay in the property and look after the illegal plants.

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Mr Parsons said: "He always accepted he was making some money from this but says he was not the owner of the grow but was being paid to maintain it and protect it."

Judge Kate Rayfield jailed him for 23 months and said: "On any view, your involvement was significant. We saw how much you were sending back to Albania. It was not necessarily your operation, but you were recruited to stay and maintain the grow."