Cannabis farm found in empty pub 100m from police station

A “sophisticated” cannabis farm was being operated in a disused pub near Swansea’s main police station.

The two men found working at the farm were both Albanian nationals who had been smuggled into the country with one having recently served 16 years in an Italian prison for being involved in the supply of heroin.

Swansea Crown Court heard police went to the boarded-up Mountain Dew public house in Mount Pleasant on the morning of May 6 after people living nearby reported suspicious activity around the building.

Paul Hobson, prosecuting, said when they entered the premises officers found 190 plants of various stages of maturity, along with associated growing equipment, spread over six rooms. The electricity supply to the disused pub had been bypassed.

Police also found 28-year-old Elson Kryemadhi and 53-year-old Arben Matrapaei there. A third man found driving away from the pub by police when they arrived on the scene was arrested and remains under investigation.