Ipswich men jailed for Portman Road cannabis farms

A total of nearly 400 cannabis plants were discovered in two residential properties in the town after police stopped and searched two people in a car in Tacket Street in April, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

One of the men had immediately started deleting messages on his mobile phone in front of the police officers and during a search of the car, 110 bamboo canes, four sets of blackout curtains and some loppers were found.

A note containing the addresses of two properties in Ipswich was also found, said Gerard Renouf, prosecuting.

Euglen Aliaj was jailed for two years (Image: Suffolk police)

When police went to one of the addresses in Willoughby Road they found 240 plants in a number of growing areas as well as growing equipment.

Mr Renouf said that if sold in bulk the plants had a potential value of between £53,000 and £67,000.

When officers went to the second address in Churchmans House in Portman Road, they saw a man jump out of a first-floor window on to the roof of a vehicle.

He was arrested and during a search of the property officers found 154 plants which could have yielded cannabis with a potential value of between £59,000 and £74,000, if it was sold in bulk, said Mr Renouf.

Before the court were Euglen Aliaj, 35, of Dunlop Road, Ipswich, Endri Rredhi, 32, of Reid Close, Ipswich, and Hamit Velia, 20, of Portman Road, Ipswich, who each admitted one offence of being involved in the production of cannabis.

Aliaj and Rredhi were each jailed for two years and Velia was sentenced to six months detention in a young offenders’ institution.

Endri Rredhi was also jailed for two years at Ipswich Crown Court (Image: Suffolk police)

Sentencing the men, Recorder Jeremy Benson said the two properties had been kitted out to in a sophisticated way to grow a considerable amount of cannabis.