Jail for cannabis cultivator who tried to hide from police in loft

A cannabis gardener hid in the loft during a raid and threw soil from a grow at police when he was discovered.

Flamur Keca made a beeline for the attic when his door was put through by officers in the early hours of the morning.

Police in Mansfield executed the warrant in Rufford Avenue after receiving intelligence it was being used to grow cannabis.

These suspicions were quickly proven right when officers forced entry to the property and charged inside, just after 3am on 13 October 2022.

Every available bit of space in the house was found to be harbouring growing areas for cannabis plants and the equipment needed to fuel them.

More than 350 plants were found growing across four rooms in total – including up in the loft where Keca was trying to hide.

Unfortunately for him, Keca’s hiding spot was quickly rumbled, although this didn’t stop him covering officers in soil as they climbed up the ladder to detain him.  

Following Keca’s arrest, all the cannabis plants and growing equipment was dismantled from across the house, which had its electrics illegally bypassed.  

The 25-year-old, of Rufford Avenue, would go on to be charged with cultivating Class B drugs – something he later pleaded guilty to in court.

Keca appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Monday (9 September), where he was sentenced to one year in prison.

PC Ben Powell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As Keca has now found out to his cost, growing cannabis is a very serious offence that can lead to prison time.

“This should serve as a good example of how robustly we will respond as a police force, should we receive credible information of drug activity in the community.

“Cannabis production is not a victimless crime, while it brings nothing but trouble to neighbourhoods, including a very real fire risk that puts lives in danger.

“We don’t want these types of cannabis grows operating in our areas, and we know people who live there don’t either, which is why we will always look to take action.

“Of course, one way the public can help us do that is by reporting any information about potential drug supply operations near them to us via 101, so we’d ask them to carry on doing this.”