Police chased a drug farmer across the rooftops of Welshpool after finding his £340,000 cannabis grow in a town centre shop.

A police drone and a dog were brought in to help chase down Alban Qemalli after the raid on the former Savers store in Broad Street in early September.

Officers had found 405 cannabis plants worth a potential £340,000, Mold Crown Court heard as Albanian Qemalli, 31, was jailed for nearly two years.

Qemalli, who was in the country illegally, claimed he was forced to work as a gardener to pay the cost of his journey to Britain.

Prosecutor Michael Whitty said he had been pursued across rooftops and on the ground before being detained and injured by the police dog. A false wall had been used to block the view of the inside of the building in Broad Street.

Qemalli’s passport was found last week in Cardiff during a wider police investigation into the cannabis trade.

County Times:

Brian Treadwell, defending at Mold crown court, said his client was a single man. He admitted being involved in cannabis production.

Judge Niclas Parry told the defendant :”The use of illegal immigrants to make huge drug businesses possible is a great public concern.

"This was a huge operation, you lived in the middle of it. You would have been fully aware of the scale of the operation.

“You were going to receive a significant financial gain although I accept you were going to choose to use it to clear a debt.”

The judge said he chose to incur the debt to enter Britain illegally.

Sentencing him to 22 months in prison, Judge Parry added :”It’s almost certain that you will be deported.”

Police said they had found £450,000 worth of cannabis in two separate raids in Broad Street on consecutive days in September - the first at the former Savers store, and the second in the County Times' old offices across the road.

Two men were arrested after approximately 580 cannabis plants were found in the two buildings.