Two men have appeared in court following the discovery of a “sophisticated” cannabis farm near Lurgan.
Cerpia Shpend, 27 and 55-year-old Alia Hajri – both with an address of Colane Road in Aghagallon, appeared before Lisburn Magistrates’ Court this morning charged with cultivating cannabis.
The pair – Albanian nationals – were remanded into custody and the case was adjourned until June 27.
A third man – a 66-year-old – accused of cultivating cannabis and permitting the production of the class B drug is due to appear in Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, June 27.
The three men were arrested on Tuesday following a search of a property on the Colane Road.
Speaking at the time, Detective Inspector Conor Sweeney, of the PSNIs Organised Crime Branch, said: “This is the most sophisticated cannabis farm I have encountered.
“A substantial degree of engineering and investment has gone into the construction and concealment of this underground facility, which housed plants with an estimated street value of £500,000; however, this set-up is fundamentally dangerous and we have availed of the expertise of several partner agencies to make the site safe for officers to properly examine the scene and remove plants and equipment.”
He added: “Our investigation into the organised crime gang responsible for this farm will continue beyond these arrests. The motivation of criminal gangs is, and always has been, one thing: greed. They will happily exploit vulnerable people with addiction and debt issues in order to fuel this greed.
“As a police service, we rely heavily on the support of the public and need people to come forward with any information they have relating to such criminality.”
