Illegal immigrant made to guard cannabis farm in North Shields
Nguyen Ho had paid the gangsters to sneak him into the UK.
Nguyen Ho had paid the gangsters to sneak him into the UK.
when police raided a house on Norham Road, North Shields, they found the 27-year-old looking after more than 300 cannabis plants, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Judge David Wood told Ho: "You speak no English and accept your role was to look after the plants as a gardener."
But jailing him for nine months, Judge Wood warned only custody could follow. He said: "I have to have regard to the fact there are unfortunately a lot of cannabis farms of this kind and a lot of them seem to be run by citizens from Vietnam."
Ho, told to run the farm to settle his debt for being illegally brought to the country, admitted producing cannabis.
The well-equipped farm was capable of delivering harvests of three kilos a time, the court heard.
Judge Wood said: "This was a professional exercise and for those who ran it a profitable concern."
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk 27/08/2012
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