Etmond Lika inches away from a police officer during the raid in February. Photo: Crown Prosecution Service.
A man was pictured hiding on a roof skylight as police searched an illegal cannabis farm in the UK.At first, during the incident in February this year, the police officer looking out the window could not see Etmond Lika who was inches above him on the roof. But minutes later Lika was caught and this week he was sentenced for two years and four months for being involved in running the cannabis farm in Kirkdale, Liverpool. Police raided the house after a tip-off from a locksmith who was changing the lock on the door of the six-bedroom suburban home. They found 200 plants and – eventually – Lika. The 32-year-old Albanian paid €5,000 (around £4,400) to people traffickers to come across the Channel from France to Britain by boat last year, Liverpool Crown Court heard. In court, he said he was being paid £100 a day to live at the house and look after the stash. Britain’s £2.5 billion illegal cannabis industry has thrived and expanded over the last 15 years, with police struggling to keep up, carrying out thousands of busts on cannabis farms – located everywhere from abandoned courts and police stations to underground lairs – each year.
