Suffolk cannabis farm gardeners jailed for £1m crop

Two cannabis "gardeners" who tended a drug crop after entering the UK illegally have been jailed.

Albanian nationals Daniel Muhaj, 29, and Eglant Selenica, 35, were found living alongside the plants at an industrial estate in Redgrave, Suffolk.

They were sentenced to 20 months each at Ipswich Crown Court after admitting producing cannabis.

They had claimed to be "expendable" links of a criminal network, protecting a crop which police valued at £1m.

Their solicitor had previously said the men were victims "at the bottom of the chain", having been asked to tend the plants and avoid attention.

Selenica had travelled from Romania to find building site work, but was offered £1,500 a month to guard plants, while Muhaj entered on the back of a lorry from France and took the job to pay off the £8,000 fee.

They had each been in Suffolk for less than a month when police searched the unit in March following a tip-off.

Officers found "cannabis production on an industrial scale" with hundreds of mature plants, and sophisticated lighting and ventilation equipment.

The forfeiture of plants and equipment was also ordered at the sentencing on Friday.