Former WH Smith turned into three-storey £6m cannabis factory by crime group

A man who paid £20,000 to come illegally to Britain became a key player in a £6m cannabis factory located on a busy Scottish high street, a court heard.

Petrit Gjuraj, 24, was arrested after police caught him at a former branch of WH Smith on High Street, Kirkcaldy, in 2022.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how officers who searched the three-storey building found a total of 1,330 cannabis plants, which were being grown on every floor.

Workers slept in a small area that consisted of three double mattresses.

The court also heard that detectives found a large TV that showed live CCTV footage from a camera located at the back of the premises, which focused on the back door.

Police officers found the cannabis being grown there could have netted the organised crime group responsible for the plant a total of £6,596,800.

On Wednesday, Judge Lord Scott heard about the moment police arrested Gjuraj, an Albanian national.

Prosecutor Alan Cameron KC said: “Police Scotland received intelligence that cannabis was being cultivated within the three-storey, disused premises at 183-187 High Street, Kirkcaldy.

“Police cars arrived at the front and rear of the premises to search them.

“The accused and three other males were seen from the police helicopter exiting onto the roof of the building via a fire escape and running west along the roof of the adjacent building.

“It became apparent to officers that the males had no means of escape. After the males made a few attempts to conceal themselves, they were observed to be engaging with the officers, and a ladder was requested.

“The males descended the ladder in turn and were detained by the officers on the street.”

The story emerged after Gjuraj, of Paisley, pleaded guilty to being concerned in cultivating cannabis at the premises between March and May 2022.

Mr Cameron told the court that the accused told police that he had paid a person in Albania £20,000 to come to the UK.

Mr Cameron added: “The arrangement was that should he not carry out the work, then his family in Albania would have to sell their property to repay the debt.

“He made his own way to Belgium and then hid in a lorry, and by hiding in the lorry was able to enter the UK.

“He worked in London before moving to Scotland, where he worked for two months in the building where he was subsequently found by the police.

“He is an Albanian national who has no legal entitlement to be in the UK. The usual national referral mechanism checks were made with the Home Office, and it was determined he had not been trafficked.”

The court heard that the premises raided by the police were set up for “maximum cannabis cultivation” – officers believe the organised crime group spent £70,000 on cultivation.

Detectives recovered 392 cannabis plants from the ground floor, 740 plants from the first floor, and 146 plants from the top floor.

Mr Cameron added: “If the cannabis cultivated was sold in one eighth deals, that would amount to approximately 164,920 deals at £40 per deal. This would have yielded approximately £6,596,800.

“STOP officers offer the opinion that the accused was trusted by an organised crime group which had invested in the production of the cannabis and would have yielded significant sums from its onward sales.”

Lord Scott remanded Gjuraj in custody ahead of a sentencing hearing next month. Lord Scott told the accused he needed to obtain a report on his background before he could proceed to sentence.

He said: “You have pleaded guilty to a very serious charge. A prison sentence is inevitable here.

“This was clearly a vey significant drugs operation carried out on behalf of an organised crime group.

“The agreed narrative tells me that you must have been a person trusted by the serious organised crime group.”

Gjuraj will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on June 19.