Police release picture of man linked to over £1m worth of cannabis plants in Sheffield and Doncaster

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Vladimir Murrja, aged 40, of Carlton Road, Wheatley, Doncaster, admitted two counts of producing cannabis after police discovered a massive harvest of plants at a property on Petre Street, in Brightside, Sheffield, and a smaller harvest with plants at his address on Carlton Road.

Laura Marshall, prosecuting, said the potential maximum yield from the plants at Petre Street was just over £929,000 and the potential yield from the plants discovered at the property on Carlton Road was just over £150,000.

Recorder Paul Kirtley told Murrja: “You fall to be sentenced in relation to two specific and separate cannabis cultivation operations.

"In respect of each of them I consider that you had both an operational function and awareness of the scale of the operation.”

Ms Marshall said the owner of the Petre Street property, which was split into several rented units, had conducted a building check in February, 2020, and one of the rented units which was being sub-let was found to have a cannabis set-up.

Police discovered well over 500 cannabis plants at the Petre Street property across five rooms with plastic sheeting on the walls and floors, lighting, transformers, ducting and extraction fans, according to Ms Marshall.

Officers also discovered a smaller grow at the property on Carlton Road, in July, 2020, with 67 established plants and a follow-on crop of 146 plants with a maximum potential yield value of just over £150,000.

The defendant, who is Albanian and has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing the class B drug cannabis.

Ayesha Smart, defending, said Murrja has a partner and a child and has no previous convictions and he has been remanded in custody while awaiting his sentence.

Recorder Kirtley believed Murrja had played a significant but not a leading role in the operation.

He told the defendant: “Essentially you were working for accommodation and victuals rather than having any financial gain.”

Recorder Kirtley sentenced Murrja to five years of custody.

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