Cannabis ‘gardeners’ face jail or deportation

An elaborate operation to grow cannabis in a Co Cork industrial unit, with about €800,000 worth of plants and a potential value approaching €10m, was discovered by gardaí.

Three “gardeners” were given five-year jail sentences, but Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin ordered the terms be suspended on their deportation from Ireland.

It emerged during sentencing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the process could be speeded up if the defendants volunteered for deportation.