'Easily-recruited' cannabis farmer hoping for deportation after Wakefield drugs raid

Officers raided the property on Ashdown Road on March 13 and found 119 plants across the four floors of the property. They also found a large amount of cash on the kitchen table, while the electricity had been bypassed in a bid to disguise the operation.

There was also cannabis cuttings strewn around the building suggesting a successful previous harvest.

Abas Miftari, aged 24, was arrested at the scene. A key was found in the door to allow him to “come and go as he wished”, prosecutor Ashleigh Heyworth told Leeds Crown Court.

Miftari admitted his part and pleaded guilty to a charge of production of cannabis.

Mitigating on his behalf during the sentencing hearing this week, Richard Holland said: “The people who are caught are usually the gardeners who are easily recruited and replaced when they are lost. Text messages show he was being directed by another, so he was playing a limited role under direction. He just wants to be deported as soon as possible.”

He said that Miftari, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand, should be given maximum credit for entering an early guilty plea.

The judge, Recorder David Green, described it as a “large-scale sophisticated operation” run by a “criminal gang”. He gave Miftari a 20-month jail sentence, reduced from 30 months for his early plea and limited role.