Cannabis farm gang is jailed
ALEX SCAPENS
MEMBERS of a ‘sophisticated’ Vietnamese gang whose £1m cannabis farm operation included one in a terrace house in Oswaldtwistle have been jailed for more than 35 years.
The gang used false identities and fraudulent documents to rent dozens of properties for drug production.
Preston Crown Court heard a raid at the Roe Greave Road property found a large number of cannabis plants valued in the region of £80,000.
This find led to a large investigation, codenamed Operation Renard, which resulted in the discovery of more cannabis factories and other properties which police believed were being prepared for the same purpose.
‘Gardeners’ would then be employed to visit the houses and tend the crops with other areas used including Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool and Burscough.
Among those sentenced was Jack Nguyen, 28, of Webster Avenue, Bootle.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis and money laundering and was jailed for seven years and four months.
Also said to be the ‘managerial side of the operation’ was Trang Huong Nguyen, 28, of Berry Street, Liverpool.
She was convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis and jailed for three years and nine months.
Overall 16 people were jailed for a total of more than 35 years.
Police say raids in March this year recovered cannabis valued at just under a million pounds and a quarter of a million pounds in cash.
Detective Sergeant Stu Peall, from Lancashire Police, said: “I welcome these sentences which reflect the serious nature of the offending.
“This was a sophisticated organised criminal group making huge amounts of money from their operation which stretched across the north west of England.
“Many defendants claimed to be trafficked and some claiming to be children, all of these defences were proved to be lies and simply just a tactic used to avoid detection.
“We will continue to proactively target the production of cannabis which can have lasting physical and mental health effects on users as well as having a negative effect on our communities and fuelling other crime.
“We need the public to continue to work with us to help us tackle drug crime by informing us of any suspicious activity.”