A 27-year-old individual was discovered cultivating over 500 cannabis plants with an estimated market value of £482,000 at a warehouse facility.
Lorenc Mata was maintaining the plants at a commercial zone on Kelvedon Street in Newport when authorities conducted a raid on Monday, 4 November 2024.
The accused, who holds Albanian citizenship and has exceeded his permitted stay in Britain, fled after receiving police bail following his initial arrest.
He was later apprehended and sentenced to two years imprisonment at Cardiff Crown Court.
Mata, residing at Lime Walk in Oxford, entered a guilty plea to involvement in producing a class B controlled substance.
Prosecutor Hywel Davies stated that officers discovered 574 cannabis specimens being cultivated in a professionally arranged operation spanning 10 chambers across two levels.
The harvest could have produced between 16kg and 49kg of product with a retail value ranging from £160,000 to £482,000 when sold in single-gram portions.
Defence counsel Alice Sykes told the court her client had maintained a clean record previously with no prior convictions.
She stated he occupied a secondary position in the operation as someone performing horticultural duties and requested the court apply a 25 percent reduction to his sentence in recognition of his early guilty plea at crown court.
Character references and statements from correctional staff were submitted on his behalf.
Presiding judge Christopher Felstead remarked to Mata that the offence was sufficiently severe to warrant a custodial sentence.
The judge observed that officers detected a powerful odour of cannabis upon approaching the substantial industrial premises.
He stated he anticipated removal from the country would likely follow completion of the sentence, though he noted this fell outside his jurisdiction.
The court indicated the defendant would serve 40 percent of his two-year term, potentially less, before liberation.
Mata was ordered to contribute a mandatory £187 victim surcharge.
No application was made for a hearing regarding criminal proceeds.
The court directed the seizure and elimination of the seized substances.