Albanian illegal immigrants found working in a Welsh cannabis plantation are in fear of going home because of what criminal gangs will do to them, a court has heard.

The four men were found in acting as "gardeners" in a cannabis farm near Pontarddulais when police raided the property. As well as dozens of plants officers also found almost 100kg of the drug which was drying having already been harvested.

Three of the four defendants claimed they had been recruited to work at the plantation by unknown Albanian men who had approached them in supermarkets, an explanation which the judge said required "a significant pinch of salt" before it could be believed - though he added that he would keep a look out for Albanian recruiters on his next shopping trip.

READ MORE:Albanian 'gardeners' tending 900-plant cannabis farm 'came to UK for a better life'

Swansea Crown Court heard that on the afternoon of March 24 police went to a house on Iscoed Road in Hendy near Pontarddulais.

Georgina Buckley, prosecuting, said as officers knocked on the front door of the property two men - Flamur Gegaj and Gjulio Muqa - ran out of the back door, and were detained. Officers then entered the house and found two more men, Arben Lico and Igli Sala, in a room on the first floor.

The court heard police found 33 cannabis plants along with hydroponic growing equipment in one of the bedrooms, and another 37 plants along with associated equipment in the loft. In the rear bedroom of the house officers found almost 100kg of the drug which had been harvested and was drying. Police also found the house's electricity meter had been bypassed.

In their subsequent interviews the defendants gave similar accounts of how they came to be at the address.

Twenty-nine year-old Muqa told officers he had been approached by an unknown Albanian man in Tesco and offered work, and had been at the Hendy house for less than 24 hours. Gegaj, aged 25, said he had been working in construction but an unknown Albanian man had approached him in a supermarket earlier that day and offered him £100 to pick and clean cannabis leaves. In his interview 26-year-old Sala said he had been out for a walk when an unknown Albanian man approached him and offered him work. The oldest of the defendants, 44-year-old, Lico, said he had come to UK to work in construction, for which he was paid cash in hand. He said the police had arrested him on his first day in the Iscoed Road house.

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The defendants, all of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to producing cannabis when they appeared in the dock via videolink from Swansea prison for sentence. None of them have any previous convictions in the UK

Hannah George, of Muqa, said her client had come to the UK two years ago in the back of a lorry, and had incurred a "substantial debt" to those who facilitated the journey. She said the defendant had applied to remain in the UK, and was concerned that if he is sent back to Albanian those to whom he owes money "will seek retribution".

James Hartson, for Gegaj, said like his three co-defendants his client was "could not be any lower in the chain" in terms of the cannabis growing operation, and had clearly been put to work by others. He said Gegaj was in the UK illegally, and had been sending home the money he had been earning to support his parents. The barrister said his client also feared the consequences of a return to Albania.

Craig Jones, for Sala, said his client had been approached while in Tesco in Swansea. He said the defendant's case had been referred to the National Referral Mechanism which made a "reasonable grounds decision" - meaning Sala was a potential victim of modern slavery - but his client had entered a guilty plea nonetheless.

Kate Williams, for Lico, said the defendant had been living in a house in Swansea with other Albanian nationals when people came to the property and offered him work. She said when Lico got to the Hendy house threats had been against him and his family.

Judge Geraint Walters told the men they had been involved in a "significant" cannabis growing operation, and one no doubt controlled by an Albanian criminal gang. He said he accepted their were working as "gardeners" though he said each had known what they were getting into and were a vital "cog" in the overall running of the farm. He said their versions of how they came to be in the Hendy house required "a significant pinch of salt" before they could be believed, adding: "Next time I'm in a supermarket I will keep a look out for the Albanian recruiters who are apparently operating across south Wales."

Giving the defendants 25 per cent discounts for their guilty pleas the judge sentenced each man to nine months in prison.

The judge said what happens to the men upon their release was a matter for the Home Office, and he expressed no opinion on it.

Dyfed-Powys Police does not release custody photographs of defendants sentenced to less than 12 months in prison