Sorry ‘gardeners’ locked in drug den for 23 hours a day
MEN IN CHARGE OF £650,000 OF CANNABIS
TWO cannabis gardeners have been jailed after they were caught in an East Yorkshire factory with £650,000 worth of cannabis.
Phuc Nguyen, 25, and Dihn Nguyen, 28, both of no fixed address, were found in the premises in Carnaby industrial estate, near Bridlington, where they found 1,400 cannabis plants, along with equipment such as lamps and transformers.
The pair
September were 13, arrested on 2020, under
Operation Galaxy and had come to the UK illegally from Vietnam and had fallen into growing and tending to the drugs after struggling to find legitimate work.
Hull Crown Court heard that the industrial unit was divided into eight rooms through the use of plastic sheeting and that it was surrounded by a 6ft-high locked metal fence.
Prosecutor Nigel Clive said a third man, Gullam Miah, was also involved in the operation and is due to be sentenced for his role in the operation.
Mr Clive said that Phuc Nguyen and Dihn Nguyen were found in the factory unit and that they were part of a “significant drug-growing operation”.
“These two defendants were in charge of growing the cannabis, which was found inside the factory unit,” said Mr Clive.
“Nearly 32kg of cannabis was found in the factory unit. There were preparations for a follow-on crop, which would yield a greater quantity of cannabis than the first crop.
“If the cannabis of both the follow-on and plants discovered were sold in ounces, then there would be in excess of £650,000 worth of cannabis. If sold in bulk, that is to say kilograms, there would be between £300,000 to £538,00 of cannabis.
“Those sums of money would never have found their way to these defendants. These defendants lived in poor conditions within that factory unit.”
In defence of Phuc Nguyen and Dihn Nguyen, it was heard that the pair came to the UK to make a better life from themselves, but fell into working as gardeners at the factory unit when they could not find other jobs or accommodation.
It was said that they were locked inside the factory for 23 or 24 hours a day and were sorry for their actions,
which were brought on by pressure and intimidation.
Recorder Gavin Doig sentenced the pair to 18 months in prison and said that they may face deportation upon release.
“You were arrested at a cannabis farm in September 2020,” he said.
“This was a substantial operation. The value of the drugs being grown runs to several hundred thousand pounds. I accept that you played a lesser role in this operation and had little or no control of the operation that you were part.
“Neither of you have previous convictions in this country.”