International criminals set up an industrial drugs farm at a small Welsh smallholding

Police also seized a "zombie knife" and a crossbow from the property.

Police found an "industrial" cannabis-growing operation being run at a rural smallholding in Carmarthenshire, a court has heard. The potential value of the crop uncovered by officers was put at up to £264,000.

Swansea Crown Court heard the dad-of-three living at the property had acted as a "facilitator" for Albanians who set up the plantation. One Albanian man who was in the UK illegally was found working at the smallholding. Both men have been sent down. During the police raid officers also recovered a "zombie knife" and a crossbow.

David Singh, prosecuting, told the court that on February 18 this year police executed a search warrant at a remote compound near Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire. He said there were a number of buildings and units at the site which was the home address of defendant Martin Evans.

The court heard that when Evans was shown a copy of the search warrant he pointed to an outbuilding and said: "He's in there". When officers entered the building they found living quarters and "a significant quantity of cannabis plants" across a number of rooms along with filters, growing lights, and other paraphernalia. Also in the outbuilding was Albanian Fatjon Xhafa.

The prosecutor said police estimated that the wholesale value of the crop could be up to £124,000 while the street value could be up to £264,000 and he described the set-up as "well-organised and capable of producing industrial quantities of cannabis". He said messages found on Evans' phone showed he was involved in the supply of cannabis.

The prosecutor added that items belonging to Evans including a "zombie knife" and a crossbow had been seized during the police raid, and while no charges had been brought in relation to the weapons he said he said he would in due course be seeking forfeiture and destruction orders for them. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.

In his police interview Evans said he was residing in part of premises and he accepted he had facilitated the rental of other parts of the premises. He said he was unaware of the exact scale of the operation, and said he had "told various Albanian men to leave" the site. In his interview Xhafa said he was effectively "a slave" having been approached in London to work in construction. He accepted he had no right to be in the UK.

Martin Evans, aged 37, of Y Felin, Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and to producing cannabis when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has six previous convictions for 11 offences including possession of cannabis. Fatjon Xhafa, aged 26, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to producing cannabis when he appeared in court via videolink from prison. He has no previous convictions.

Matt Murphy, for Evans, invited the court to find the sentence that was due was one that was capable of being suspended and could properly be suspended. He said a term of immediate custody would have a serious impact on the father-of-three's teenage children who would have to look after the "significant" number of animals on the agricultural property, and on the four sub-contractors who were due to start work on a project for the self-employed builder.

Ieuan Rees, for Xhafa, said the defendant had entered the UK illegally some three years ago and had been moved around the UK "by others" who used him as a cheap source of labour. He invited the court to pass a sentence which would allow his client to return to Albania "sooner rather than later".

Judge Wayne Beard said the Kidwelly property was clearly being used for a "commercial" cannabis growing operation and that Evans had been a "facilitator".

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Evans was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and with a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea - which was entered at a later stage in the court process - Xhafa was sentenced to 29 weeks in prison.

The defendants will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence. The judge said it was likely Xhafa would be removed from the country after being released from custody.

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