TWO illegal immigrants were jailed after being caught running a big cannabis factory at a former social club in the Gwent Valleys.

Albanians Mikeljan Dusha, 27, and Dylber Selimllari, 28, were being “exploited” by gangsters to look after nearly 500 plants at the old Arundel Club in Blaenavon.

The cannabis being grown had the potential of turning over hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of profit, prosecutor Peter Donnison told Cardiff Crown Court.

“The police executed a misuse of drugs warrant at the premises on Ton Mawr Road during the early hours of Sunday, August 27,” he said.

South Wales Argus: Police seized 497 cannabis plants at the former Arundel Club on Blaenavon’s Ton Mawr Street (Image: Gwent Police Twitter)

“It was packed with cannabis in 10 rooms and there was a flat upstairs where the defendants were living.

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“These living quarters were clean and tidy and there was a kitchen, bathroom and three beds.”

The defendants tried to escape through a window but were caught and arrested.

Dusha fell while trying to make a run for it and had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance after hurting his ankle.

South Wales Argus:

Mikeljan Dusha, 27, and Dylber Selimllari, 28, were jailed for running the cannabis factory (Image: Gwent Police Twitter)

The defendants, both of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of a class B drug.

They have no previous convictions.

Gareth Williams, representing them, said they had been placed at the cannabis factory by others and the defendants had “no management function” in the chain.

“There was an element of taking advantage of people at their lowest ebb,” he added.

“Both defendants were desperate for money.”

The judge, Recorder Greg Bull KC, told Dusha and Selimllari: “You both came to this country from Albania having entered the UK illegally.

“You would have known that by reason of your status you would be unable to either claim benefit in this country or work here legally.”

He added: “The social club known as the Arundel Club became vacant and it was taken over by a group of people who placed you two there.

“For at least three months prior to your arrest, you participated in the cultivation of cannabis and 497 plants were found at various stages of growth.

“You played your parts in protecting and cultivating that crop which could have produced cannabis worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

Dusha and Selimllari were each jailed for 27 months and told they would “probably” be deported after serving their prison sentences.