FOUR men are facing prison sentences for their illegal involvement in a Workington cannabis farm which had a potential street value yield of almost £400,000.

Eneo Kamberi, 23, and 25-year-old Esat Qama, both of Newark Street, Bradford, and Eriton Qato, aged 28, of Nesfield Street, Bradford, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court this morning (February 20).

All three men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of class B controlled drug cannabis on January 16.

Defence barrister Janet Ironfield, for Qama, said his guilty plea was entered in a formal basis which will be considered by the prosecution.

“Essentially it relates to pressure to repay a debt,” she said, accepting that an immediate jail term was almost “inevitable”.

Also in court, appearing remotely over a video link, was a fourth man, Edwart Rrapushaj, 37, of no fixed address. He had pleaded guilty to an offence of cannabis production during a magistrates’ court hearing last month after his arrest.

Detectives had charged the four men after a vehicle was stopped as it travelled on the M6 in Lancashire on the afternoon of Monday, January 16.

On the same day, a cannabis farm was located within a property on Market Place in Workington.

Police are said to have recovered 246 cannabis plants which, it is estimated, could have produced a potential total street value yield of up to £388,000.

Just days later, a second cannabis farm with a £177,000 potential yield was found at another address in Workington — at Gladstone Street.

A 20-year-old Albanian national admitted being concerned in cannabis production in relation to that second discovery and was jailed for eight months.

This morning Albanian nationals Kamberi, Qama, Qato and Rrapushaj were all remanded in custody by Judge Richard Archer. They are due to be sentenced at the crown court on March 27 after the preparation of probation service background reports.

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Judge Archer said: “The fact that pre-sentence reports are being ordered should not be taken as any indication as to the likely sentence.”

The defendants’ court appearance came on a day when Cumbria Police announced that during the first six weeks of 2023 alone officers have seized drugs worth at least £730,000 across the county. In addition, around £500,000 in suspected illegally-held cash has also been recovered.

Cumbria Police recently revealed that drugs worth an estimated £4 million had been taken off the streets during 2022 as part of the force’s fight against serious and organised crime.

A spokesman said: “It means the officers protecting the public against offenders such as drug dealers and traffickers have continued the good work and hit the ground running in 2023.”

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