Two men have appeared in court following the discovery of a cannabis farm in Armagh on Monday.
Piotr Koziowski (30), of Mullacreevie Park, Armagh, and Audrius Lapenas (29), of Cathedral Road, also Armagh, appeared before the city’s Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Newry, on Tuesday. Each was charged with three offences alleged to have taken place on Monday, September 29.
Koziowski was charged with possessing £6,000 of criminal property, simple possession of Class B cannabis, and being concerned in the management of premises used to produce cannabis on Cathedral Road in the city.
Lapenas was charged with cultivating cannabis, dishonestly using electricity, and possessing a prohibited weapon, namely pepper spray.
Defence counsel for Lapenas made no application for bail. However, a defence barrister for Koziowski applied for him to be freed on bail.
A detective constable, objecting to the application, said Koziowski was stopped by police while driving a black Audi A4 at the Circle K garage on the Killylea Road in Armagh.
The vehicle was searched under warrant and, during the course of the search, a number of documents were recovered concerning the property on Cathedral Road.
At this property, where co-accused Lapenas was found, a cannabis operation was discovered.
Koziowski’s Mullacreevie Park home was also searched, where £6,000 in cash and personal herbal cannabis were found.
The officer said that during the Cathedral Road search police located an “operational cannabis cultivation” with 46 fully grown plants and 100 nursery plants, with an estimated street value of £60,000.
The officer told the court that NIE engineers and a waste disposal agency had to be called to assist in the operation.
The court also heard that Koziowski had signed the tenancy agreement for the Cathedral Road property and that he had sublet it to Lapenas.
The officer contended that Koziowski posed a flight risk, adding that during police interviews the defendant — who has a wife and four-year-old daughter in Poland — said he had a flight booked to return home in the next three to four weeks.
District Judge Anne Marshall said the concerns around Koziowski could be managed and ruled that he would not be released until police had his passport.
He is also to report to police in Armagh three times a week.
The case for both men was adjourned until October 28.
