He has been jailed after the grow was found that could have yielded a haul worth around £150,000 on the streets
A large cannabis factory was found by police at flats where 324 plants were being secretly grown in a money-spinning operation that could have yielded a lucrative haul worth about £150,000 on the streets. The man who was looking after the plants had been “on the run” for about three years after earlier being found with three shoe boxes of 120 young cannabis plants worth a possible £66,000, Hull Crown Court heard.
Renaldas Grigaliunas, 42, of Morpeth Street, off Spring Bank, Hull, but recently in custody on remand, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply, driving while disqualified and having no insurance on March 12, 2022 as well as producing cannabis on May 20 this year. Ben Hammersley, prosecuting, said that Grigaliunas was stopped while he was driving and was found to have been banned.
Police discovered three shoe boxes containing 120 young cannabis plants. They had an estimated potential yield of 6.6kg and a possible value of between £26,000 and £66,000.
There was a “grow diary” with notes. A warrant was later issued for his arrest after he failed to turn up for a court hearing before Hull magistrates.
Grigaliunas was “on the run” for about three years before police executed a warrant at a terraced property in Morpeth Street where he was living. It had been split into three flats. A significant cannabis factory of 324 plants was found. “This grow was spread across two of the flats,” said Mr Hammersley.
The estimated total yield, including a follow-on crop of cannabis, was 15kg, with a potential bulk value of £52,500 or street value of £150,000.
Grigaliunas had no previous convictions in his native Lithuania but minor driving convictions in this country and a narcotics trafficking conviction in Germany.
Michael Masson, mitigating, said that Grigaliunas pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He was entirely realistic about facing an immediate prison sentence.
Grigaliunas was jailed for three years.
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