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A struggling businessman who turned his appliance repair workshop into a cannabis factory was caught after a passing police dog handler sniffed out the strong smell of the drugs.
Neil Isaac ran a business refurbishing fridges and washing machines at a unit in Marsh Barton but realised he could make much more money by using the space to grow 191 cannabis plants.
He was caught when a dog handler was exercising a police dog and recognised the distinctive fumes from the skunk growing operation.
Dog handler PC Aly Cruwys noticed the strong smell while out on patrol with Bodie around the Marsh Barton Industrial Estate.
She alerted officers who quickly secured a warrant and sealed off the premises.
Police at the time of the discovery estimated the plants would have been ready to harvest within a week.
Isaac, aged 36, escaped jail despite the operation having the potential to grow more than £300,000 worth of drugs a year.
He invested £10,000 and expected a quarter share of the profits but was bullied into running a much larger operation than he wanted by criminals who became his business partners, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Isaac, of Ashleigh Close, Exeter, admitted production of cannabis and was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 300 hours unpaid community work by Judge Phillip Wassall.
The judge told him he was suspending the sentence for the sake of Isaac’s four children, who are aged three to 13.
He told him:”You have a young family and everything else I have read about you indicates you are becoming a valuable citizen and I am particularly concerned about the impact on you family of an immediate sentence.”
Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said the unit in Alphin Brook Court was raided in January after being detected from the smell of the skunk cannabis.
She said:”A police dog handler was walking their dog in Marsh Barton when they smelled cannabis and were able to follow the smell, as a result of which other police executed a warrant.
“They found a large industrial unit had been divided into numerous small rooms, four of which contained cannabis plants. Three contained mature plants which were ready for harvesting and the other contained seedlings.”
He told police the workshop was empty because he had wound down his fridge repair business and had been approached by others about setting up the growing operation. He invested £10,000 and expected a quarter share of the profits.
Miss Eagles said a police expert estimated the likely yield to be around six kilograms per three month growing cycle. This would be worth £37,500 to £53,300 if sold in bulk or up to £82,000 if sold in street deals.
Mr Stephen Nunn, defending, said Isaac was lured into the venture and then bullied into tending the plants. His first harvest failed, the second was seized by the police and lease was about to run out so there was no possibility of producing further crops.
He said:”He had what unit full of old appliances which was effectively a scrap yard and while under the influence of drink he was larging it up in conversation and it came to the notice of people who are always looking out for premises to use in this way.
“His first great mistake was getting involved. It was bad judgment and his motivation was money. Things changed and he was asked to do far more than he expected to.”
He said Isaac’s business of repairing appliances has failed but he is about to start a new job.
At the time of the discovery of the cannabis factory DC Andy Hingston said: “The plants were only about a week from being dried out and ready to sell. The smell was so strong that the dog handler was able to follow her nose.
“The plants were very high quality and would have been worth £250,000 had they been sold on the streets. There was also a substantial amount of kit and lights. It was a professional set-up that would have taken a lot of organisation and would have needed a tremendous amount of time, effort, money and daily care to get the plants to grow to this standard.
“We are really pleased with the find. It was a large amount that we have stopped going on the streets and potentially harming those who came into contact with it.”
Exeter police dog handler sniffs out large cannabis factory on Marsh Barton
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