THREE Albanian men have been jailed following the raid of a £1 million cannabis farm in Stevenston.
Ruzhdi Bulku, 37, Mario Hasmuca, 28, and Adelajd Osmanaj, 26, were all sentenced to four years imprisonment by Judge Alistair Watson when they appeared at the High Court sitting in Paisley on Tuesday, October 29.
The trio had previously pleaded guilty to one charge of producing the controlled drug at a prior court appearance - where sentence was delayed to allow background reports to be prepared.
At that hearing, the High Court in Glasgow was told that the men were caught by police during a raid of McGowan House in the Ardeer Industrial Estate on December 15 last year.
Bulku, Hasmuca and Osmanaj have been in custody in relation to the matter since December 18, with their sentence backdated to this time.
The court was told that intelligence had previously been received that there was a large heat source and strong smell of cannabis coming from the disused building.
However, it was when officers were attending the scene on an unrelated manner that the three males were apprehended.
The trio initially attempted to flee the building when police constables set off external motion cameras at the premises.
Bulku, Hasmuca and Osmanaj were later snared in the wasteland surrounding the former offices after a large-scale area search took place with the assistance of the police's air support unit.
Osmanaj was traced hiding in a bush near to the building in possession of black iPhones that were damaged and could not be analysed.
Bulku approached two officers holding his hands up and was arrested. Hasmuca was traced within the grass wasteland next to the building and he was arrested.
Following their capture, officers entered the building they had vacated and discovered a massive cannabis cultivation as well as clothes and mattresses inside.
A warrant was then obtained before the premises were thoroughly searched.
A total of £510,000 worth of cannabis from 850 small plants were found in a growing area on the ground floor.
Several other rooms recovered 45 large bags of cannabis weighing 130.82 kilos, totalling £497,116.
A further five large bags weighing 8.02 kilos were found in a drying area which totalled £30,476.
The total maximum value of the cannabis recovered was detailed as £1,037,592.
Bulku, Hasmuca and Osmanaj were each jailed for four years, discounted from six due to the timing of their guilty pleas.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here