TWO Polish men have been jailed for their involvement in what gardai described as "a highly sophisticated cannabis growhouse operation" in a remote part of Mid-Cork.

Mariusz Fietko (36) was sentenced to six years in jail with four suspended while Gregorz Cabaj (24) was sentenced to 18 months in jail for his part in the growhouse operation.

Fietko, with an address at Rusheen, Macroom, pleaded guilty to possessing €132,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply at Rusheen on December 15, 2013.

Fietko also pleaded guilty to a second charge of cultivating cannabis resin at the growhouse in Rusheen when he appeared at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Cabaj (24) of the same address, pleaded guilty to a single charge of cultivating cannabis resin at Rusheen, on the same date

Det Garda Tom O'Sullivan said that when gardai searched the isolated dormer bungalow in Rusheen, some four miles from Macroom, they found a highly sophisticated growhouse.

They found four Polish men in the house, including the two accused, and when they searched a press in the kitchen they found €8,000 worth of cannabis, weighing scales and €500 in cash.

They then searched a detached garage nearby and found "a very sophisticated growhouse" on the upper floor with 60 mature plants in one room and 115 plants in a separate drying room.

The plants were being grown hydroponically and the growhouse included lights, extractor fans and other equipment and the electricity had been tampered with to by-pass the meter.

Det Garda O'Sullivan said that Cabaj had begun renting the house three months earlier for €950 a month and carried out all dealings with the landlord as he had good English.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain asked: "How did they find Rusheen because, apart from yourself and myself, guard, I very much doubt there's anyone else in this room who knows where it is."

Det Garda O'Sullivan said that they had identified the property on the DoneDeal website and it was suited to their purpose as it was in a very quiet and isolated area of mid-Cork.

He said gardai believed that the four men found in the house were recruited by a Polish organised crime gang involved in growing cannabis in various locations in Co Cork.

Garda Anthony Finn told the court that Fietko admitted setting up the growhouse and was involved in planting the seeds, harvesting the plants and drying the weed.

When Fietko's counsel Jim O'Mahony SC said his client had been in Ireland just a few years, Judge O Donnabhain asked if there was different attitude to cannabis growing in Poland.

Garda Finn said cannabis cultivation carried more severe penalties in Poland than it did in Ireland.

"What's the penalty in Poland -20 years in the salt mines?" asked the judge before explaining he wanted to be sure there wasn't a culturally different attitude to cannabis growing in Poland.

He noted the guilty plea but said Fietko was well aware that what he was doing was illegal and he believed he was in the house in a semi-supervisory role.

He noted that Fietko gave gardai a false name when he was first arrested and only gave his real name after a number of interviews.

He sentenced Fietko to six years in jail but suspended the final two years on condition he be of good behaviour and keep the peace and he backdated the sentence to January 1 last.

Judge O Donnabhain sentenced Cabaj separately saying he was "a knowing participant in what was a very well-organised grow-house, elaborately set up in a remote area" …. before jailing him for 18 months.

Corkman