A 41-YEAR-OLD man who used a former Hawick hotel for a cannabis cultivation valued at £771,000 has been jailed for 28 months at Selkirk Sheriff Court. 

When the prison sentence expires, Dritan Katana will be deported to his native Albania as the court was told he had entered the UK illegally. 

Police armed with bolt-cutters found Katana hiding in an attic after gaining entry to the former Buccleuch Hotel in Trinity Street, which was protected by a metal door and padlocks. 

Seventy-seven kilogrammes of the class B drug – worth £771,000 – was seized during the raid on October 5, along with 410 plants which had not yet fully matured. 

Officers had been tipped off to potential suspicious activity in the weeks before, and arrived to find Katana surrounded by bags of compost and fertiliser, in possession of three mobile phones. 

Defence lawyer Liam Alexander said his client had become involved with “some dangerous people” after getting into problems in Albania, in particular with gambling. 

He said he had come to the UK for a job in construction but was instead brought to the Borders where he was given instructions on what to do, and essentially became the gardener, looking after the illegal cannabis cultivation. 

Mr Alexander added: “What is clear is he is not top of the food chain here.” 

Katana, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two charges of producing cannabis and being concerned in the supply of the class B drug between September 19 and October 5 last year. 

Sheriff Ian Anderson told Katana that although he felt he only played a minor role in what was a serious criminal enterprise, it could not have functioned without his involvement. 

He jailed him for 28 months – backdated to October 6 last year when he was first remanded – and ordered the forfeiture of £266 in cash found in his possession at the time of his arrest.