A man jailed for his role in a cannabis production operation in Carlisle has lost an appeal against deportation to Albania after a judge ruled he had made up a claim that he was a victim of trafficking. The case was first reported by the Manchester Evening News.

Igli Hazizaj, 28, told an immigration tribunal in Manchester that he had been brought to the UK and forced to work in cannabis farms because his father owed money to a criminal gang. He said he would be at real risk of serious harm if he returned to Albania.

Conviction and deportation order

In February 2025 Hazizaj was jailed for two years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce cannabis. Carlisle Crown Court heard that he was the “prime mover” in an operation that converted three houses in the city into cannabis farms. The Manchester Evening News reported that the farms had the potential to produce more than £2m a year.

A deportation order was made in December 2025. Hazizaj appealed, and the case was heard at Manchester’s Civil Justice Centre.

Why the claim was rejected

The Home Office disputed his account and pointed to what it called numerous inconsistencies. These included flight records showing him travelling to and from Albania at times when he said he had been held captive.

His former partner also supplied screenshots from her social media covering their relationship during 2024. They included photographs of the couple getting engaged in Manchester, of a stag do in Wales and of her graduation ceremony in Swansea.

The tribunal also heard that Hazizaj has been sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment in connection with an attempt to board a flight from Tirana to Barcelona using a forged Greek passport. The report said he is due to be extradited to Albania.

Judge Chris Cole rejected the appeal and concluded that Hazizaj had “fabricated his whole account”. The judge said:

“I do not accept that it is reasonably likely that the appellant was trafficked to the UK and forced to work in cannabis farms.”

The judge added that Hazizaj’s travel history, his access to forged identity documents and his lifestyle in the UK indicated that he was not a victim of trafficking.

Absent from the hearing

Hazizaj did not attend the hearing on 28 October. The court heard that attempts to trace him through his former partner and the law firm that previously represented him had been unsuccessful.

Cannabis is a Class B drug in the UK under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and producing it is a criminal offence. Police and prosecutors have said in other cases that people working in cannabis farms can be victims of trafficking or exploitation, and courts are required to consider such claims carefully. In this case the judge found the evidence did not support the claim.