Edison Hadaa, a member of a cannabis clean-up crew, has accepted voluntary deportation back to his homeland of Albania, Swansea Crown Court has heard. Hadaa and his associates drove from Stoke to Carmarthen to clear out a cannabis plantation but were caught after eagle-eyed locals noted their van's registration details.
Details of the Offence
Matt Murphy, prosecuting, told the court that on January 19 this year police received online reports from the public about men loading what appeared to be cannabis plants into a van on Quay Street in Carmarthen town centre. When officers arrived, the van was gone, but a search of the property revealed it had been used as a cannabis farm.
The court heard one room contained 30 cannabis plants along with ventilation ducting, carbon filters, and growing equipment. The walls and floor were covered in plastic sheets. The plants were described as being in a "poor condition". Other rooms contained cannabis cuttings and items suggesting they had been used as "growing rooms" but had been "cleared out" before police arrived. National Grid engineers found the wiring had been "manipulated" to bypass the meter.
Interception and Arrest
Members of the public provided the van's registration details, and checks of the automatic number plate recognition camera network showed the VW Crafter had travelled from Stoke to Carmarthen that morning and was heading back to Staffordshire. At 11.30pm that night, West Mercia Police intercepted the vehicle on the M50 motorway heading out of Ross on Wye.
Stoke man Bilal Shabir was at the wheel, with Hadaa and a third male beside him. In the back, officers found 38 rubble sacks full of cut cannabis plants along with 120 pots containing soil and roots. The potential street value of the cannabis was put at up to £132,000.
Shabir told officers it was "just a clean up job" and that "The Albanian boy in the van" — accepted to be Hadaa — "gets the jobs and gives me a call". Shabir said he had done one previous clean-up job in Manchester which "was just pots". He has previously been sentenced to 40 weeks in prison for his involvement.
Defendant's Background and Sentencing
Hadaa told officers it was a "clean up job". He was found in possession of £1,460 in cash and an iPhone but refused to reveal the phone's PIN. The 23-year-old, of Oxford Street, Stoke, had previously pleaded guilty on the day of trial to being concerned in the supply of cannabis. He has one previous conviction from November 2024 for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, for which he was sentenced to 12 months.
Emily Bennett, for Hadaa, told the court her client had entered the UK illegally in the back of a lorry in 2023 "searching for a better life" and had initially worked in construction. She said the defendant's wife of 18 months still lives in Albania and that Hadaa had accepted voluntary deportation back to his home country. The barrister also said Hadaa had spent some seven months in custody and had used his time in prison constructively.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Hadaa he had served a prison sentence in 2024 for production of cannabis but clearly "you did not learn your lesson" as within a year of release he was again involved in the cannabis trade. He said the Carmarthen operation had been a "substantial one" capable of generating many tens of thousands of pounds worth of drugs.
With a 10 per cent discount for his guilty plea, Hadaa was sentenced to 27 months in prison. Judge Thomas told the defendant that given the time he had already spent on remand and the current 40 per cent release provisions, "by my calculations you will be back in Albania soon". The court heard the third male found in the van, who failed to attend sentencing due to being unable to afford travel to Swansea, will be sentenced at a later date.
