Cannabis grower who tended huge weed crop at Derbyshire Co-op to be deported

Genci Polisi, 40, was tasked with “watering and maintaining” the 897 plants found at the former store on High Street, Tibshelf, during a police raid.

During an interview Polisi told police he had been tending the weed for two months at the building – which had been derelict for five years – after arriving in the UK in 2019.

Payment for the job was expected after the crop had been finished, he added.

The defendant, whose finger prints were found on a transformer unit, was discovered during the raid hiding behind some tall plants.

His barrister told Derby Crown Court the defendant had worked in construction in Greece and Germany before taking on the gardening role.

He said: “He accepts he knew what he was going to – when you’re in the grey economy you have to accept what you’re given.”

During a police raid at the store on June 14, 2021, police found the plants – some which were up to 150cm in height – growing in rooms on several floors.

Evidence was found that £260,000 worth of electricity had been extracted at the building – where two previous crops had also been cultivated.

Police experts estimated the street value of the nine-month crop – with a potential yield of 75,000 grams – to be between £161,000 and £672,000.

The court heard there was evidence the building had been lived in as there was a large amount of food, sleeping areas and a TV.

Polisi admitted cannabis production.

Judge Shaun Smith KC told Polisi – who had already served his sentence on remand – that he would be kept in custody pending deportation proceedings.