‘I’m so sorry’, the first words spoken by Marisol Bezati as police raided his Peterborough home with a warrant to search for drugs. Find them they did, the 20-year-old ‘cultivating’ around £170,000 worth of cannabis plants in the bedrooms and the loft.
Bezati was arrested at his home in Kent Road, West Town, after the Neighbourhood Support Team carried out a warrant on 28 September.
Officers forced entry to the house where they found 206 cannabis plants worth up to about £173,000 growing in bedrooms and the loft.
Bezati appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (27 October) where he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting being concerned in the production of cannabis and abstracting electricity.
Detective Constable Andrew Donaldson, who investigated, said: “We will continue to target criminal networks involved in drug dealing and production in our county.
“The links between serious crime and those involved in cannabis cultivation are clear, with the drugs trade often fuelling violence as groups compete against each other for a space in the ‘market’.
“These setups also present threats due to damage that is often caused to the properties themselves with the buildings becoming dangerous, unlawful abstraction of electricity, risks of fires, fumes and water damage.”
Anyone with information or concerns about drugs can report to police online via the dedicated drugs information webpage. Advice about spotting the signs of a cannabis factory can also be found here.
