A gang of drug traffickers in England controlled Albanian national Flamur Dedja over the internet after forcing him to look after the cannabis farm on Ashton Terrace in Harehills.

He traveled to the UK on the back of a lorry earlier this year at a cost of £10,000, money he later owed to traffickers, British media reported.

After arriving in United Kingdom he first started working illegally as a painter and decorator in Leicester, but was told he wasn’t paying back his debt fast enough and was forced to become a “gardener” on a drug farm in Leeds, tending narcotic plants.

Prosecutor Jemima Stephenson said that following a tip-off, police raided the property on April 5, finding Flamur Dedja inside. They found 71 plants in three rooms with a total value of up to £39,000.

Officers found food inside the home and a camera in the front window. During his police interview, 31-year-old Dedja said he was allowed to leave the property every two weeks to buy food and was given £100 every three months.

He said the gang took away his passport, spoke to him through internet cameras on the property and threatened to harm his family in Albania if he did not cooperate. He pleaded guilty to the charge of producing cannabis and was placed in custody.