Lincolnshire police have uncovered a thriving cannabis operation in Grimsby, tended by a 48-year-old man who had no qualms boasting about his countrywide cannabis escapades. Arunas Peldzius, the self-proclaimed ‘Festival of Weed’ enthusiast, was found in a house on Sherwood Road, amidst a sizeable cannabis crop capable of producing drugs worth up to £120,000 on the street. However, Hull Crown Court heard that Peldzius was being remunerated so poorly for his services that he could ‘hardly cover his whisky bill’.
Upon executing a drugs warrant, police discovered three upstairs rooms in the house converted into cannabis growing spaces, complete with lighting and ventilation, and containing multiple pots of cannabis plants and stems. Downstairs, they found four large bags of harvested cannabis, totaling 17.04kg with a wholesale value of £42,000.
Peldzius, who had been living in the property for two to three weeks before his arrest, confessed to producing cannabis. Despite his claims that he had no access to some rooms and denied involvement in the cannabis growing, he held a key to the house and was free to come and go as he pleased. He further claimed that he had been given 10 to 15g of cannabis to stay at the property.
Defence counsel Tim Savage argued that Peldzius, who had entered the UK legally, was being used by more sophisticated criminals as a ‘caretaker’ for the cannabis operation. Savage stressed that Peldzius was not the brains behind the operation, nor would he have shared in the profits, but was simply performing a limited function under direction.
Regardless of the defendant’s assertions, the court determined that Peldzius had played a substantial role in the operation and was aware that it was capable of generating large amounts of cannabis for commercial use. Peldzius was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.
This story was adapted by The Lincoln Post from original reporting by www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk.
