An Albanian drug worker who came to the UK by small boat says he now regrets the decision to come.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the migrant revealed how the promise of easy money earned by working in a rural cannabis farm failed to materialise. 

Instead of an easy living, he found himself trapped in a house for weeks on end, sometimes without food, fearing he’d die in a fire or robbery.

“People think when someone works on that job they’ll earn a lot of money. But it’s not like that,” he told the Express.

“You can [only] go out when the boss says it’s OK, like one or two times per week.

“It’s difficult, you are afraid someone can come to the house at night. Two days before I was about to leave [the first house] I was robbed.

“They went to my room and one stood by the door while the others searched the house. Some had guns others had big knives.”

He is not sure exactly how the thieves knew where to find the cannabis farm but believes they could have used infra-red heat cameras or identified the location thanks to some inside information. 

As a result of the robbery, the worker’s earnings were reduced, contributing to a total salary well below what he’d imagined.

Getting a 25% cut of the profits for each two-month cannabis harvest, he risked his life for a yearly total of £15,000.

The figure is lower than minimum wage workers earn in Britain and less than moderately well-paid positions in Albania.

Being isolated with little to no human contact for days can also take its toll on workers, according to the man who spoke to the Express.

“It is difficult. It depends on what your mood is, some people were going crazy,” he explained. “It’s too much pressure, you are afraid of the police and afraid of robbers.”

He is now considering a return to the Balkan nation and feels considerable regret over his decision to travel to Britain on a small boat.

“[I regretted it] the first month I got paid. I’d thought it would be easy and fun,” he said.

“[But] this is dangerous. You could be killed inside of the house. I've heard that people have been killed and you can be burned from the fire because of the temperature in the [cannabis] rooms.

“I was not happy [working there] and I regret it. 

“I wanted to earn some money to help my family. But when they found out [I was working in a drug farm] they told me to come back. They were scared I could be killed and they knew people had been killed.”

However, he fears that there are still thousands of young Albanian men being lured to Britain driven by the false impression that becoming a drug worker could earn them vast fortunes.

As the Express revealed earlier this year, social media has helped convince huge numbers of Albanian youngsters that working in UK cannabis farms is easy and profitable.

Asked what message he would give them, the man’s answer was simple: “It’s not like how you think.”