Jailed after £110k haul of cannabis was found
EK property had 245 plants
An illegal immigrant has been jailed after a neighbour uncovered a cannabis farm that “looked like a jungle”.
Police seized 245 plants worth up to £110,000 from the property in Alberta Avenue, East Kilbride.
Cong Le Hynh claimed he was a victim of human trafficking and criminals had forced him to look after the huge cultivation.
But a jury found him guilty of producing cannabis and bypassing the upstairs flat’s electricity meter on December 8, 2021.
Jailing him for two years and nine months, Sheriff Ray Small said: “This was cannabis production on a large scale and, according to police officers, to a very high standard.
“It seems to me you knew full well what you were doing.
“You appear to have been brought to this country by others, but I don’t accept – and neither did the Home Office – that it was human trafficking.”
Hamilton Sheriff Court, pictured above, heard that a man discovered the huge cultivation after going upstairs to complain about water seeping into the flat below.
Police were contacted and Le Hynh, who had moved to the UK from Vietnam, was caught as he tried to flee from the flat.
Le Hynh, 36, claimed he arrived in Glasgow by train from London and was offered “cleaning work” by two men, one Chinese and the other ‘western’.
He said he was threatened, beaten and warned that the flat was being watched.
But prosecutor Jennifer Cunningham told the jury: “He showed no signs of injury and was not locked in the flat.
“He was the keyholder and the door was locked from the inside – to keep people out, not to keep someone in.
“He could leave whenever he wanted. “This was a sophisticated and complex operation – a money-making machine – that bears all the hallmarks of organised crime. A skilled gardener was a vital component in the machine. The accused was there because he wanted to be.”
Defence agent Laura Kiernan insisted Le Hynh was a “vulnerable” individual.
Le Hynh will be due for release within weeks as he has been in prison since his arrest.