Mercedes-driving deported dealer caught back in the UK tending to £250,000 Leeds cannabis farm

Officers raided the property on Copgrove Road, Gipton, on January 31, and found 10 rooms of the house had been turned over to the growing of cannabis, along with usual set-up of fans and lamps. The electricity had also been bypassed.

They found Guxim Haxhiu inside and quickly arrested him. Overall, they found 225 plants in varying stages of growth. Experts believed the plants were capable of producing up to 23kg of the class B drug. Wholesale it could be valued up to £72,000, and if sold on the streets, more than £236,000. They also found keys on him for a hired Mercedes that he had been using.

The 25-year-old admitted he was jailed at Bristol Crown Court in 2020 for three-and-a-half years for dealing in cocaine. He was sent back to Albania after being released, prosecutor Robert Galley told the court.

But Haxhiu then admitted he illegally returned in September last year on the back of a lorry. He said he had to return to pay the debt he accrued after the cocaine bust.

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Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted an offence of producing cannabis.

Mitigating, Imran Khan said: "He knew returning was the wrong decision. He returned to try and pay off the earlier debt. He now wishes to settle that debt by selling family land in Albania or a bank loan. He very much regrets making the wrong decision."

Judge Robin Mairs said the fact he was driving the expensive hire car indicated he was a "trusted lieutenant" in the organised crime gang. He jailed him for three years.