An illegal immigrant was found operating a major cannabis farm in a terrace house just two days after arriving in Norwich.

Klodian Maci, 42, was caught red handed when police smashed their way into the three-bedroom house on Knowland Grove in Marlpit on May 22. 

The early morning raid discovered the property had been converted into a major cannabis growing operation with dozens of mature plants. 

READ MORE: Man charged after cannabis factory discovered in Norwich

The Albanian national was arrested as he tried to escape through a back door.

67 mature cannabis plants worth £6,500 per crop were found being cultivated67 mature cannabis plants worth £6,500 per crop were found being cultivated (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Norwich Crown Court was told the otherwise innocuous looking home had been rented but that all three bedrooms and the lounge had been turned into a set-up to cultivate illegal drugs.

Prosecutors said it had been rigged up with hydroponic equipment, extractor fans, a large water butt in the bathroom and power transformers with wires bypassing the electricity meter.   

There were 67 fully grown cannabis plants capable of producing crops that would each be worth a street value of £6,500.   

The court was told Maci had keys and had been living at the property but that it had been rented in another name. 

The rented property had been converted and the electricity meter bypassedThe rented property had been converted and the electricity meter bypassed (Image: Newsquest)

After his arrest he told police he had paid £2,000 to illegally enter the UK but that he had only arrived in the city two days before the raid. 

He pleaded guilty to the production of class B drugs. 

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Jonathan Goodman, mitigating, said: “Sadly it is not too uncommon for these courts to see three and four-bed houses converted by others into major cannabis growing operations with hapless individuals like this recruited to be the front end gardeners.” 

Cannabis was found growing in all three bedrooms and the lounge Cannabis was found growing in all three bedrooms and the lounge (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Recorder Simon Taylor said it had been a sophisticated operation with all the equipment necessary to produce large quantities of cannabis on a commercial scale. 

Jailing him for eight months, he told Maci: “Your role was limited and I accept you had little knowledge of the extent of the wider operation. 

“Your vulnerability was to some extent exploited and that is a mitigating factor I take into account.”