Vietnamese man grew £364k worth of cannabis at Tunstall hair salon  

Police carrying out the raid in Tunstall.

A VIETNAMESE man has been jailed after he tended to 1,100 cannabis plants which could have produced £364,200 worth of the drug.

Ty Van Nguyen, aged 37, who came to Britain illegally last year, was brought to the Potteries after helping to produce cannabis in Bradford.

He watered plants at a former hair salon in Pinnox Street, Tunstall, before police raided the property on July 11.

Now Nguyen has been jailed for 32 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said all but one window at the building was covered with plastic sheets and a silver foil lining was found inside.

Miss Cortese said: "Police could smell cannabis and felt a huge amount of heat. Inside there was a large scale cannabis factory covering all four floors of the building. In total, 1,133 plants were seized. They could have produced 51 kilograms of vegetation with a street value of between £178,500 and £364,200. The electricity had been bypassed."

The defendant was in the building but escaped through the roof. However, he was detained and arrested nearby.

Nguyen told police he had been forced to work there for about 20 days. He said he was told to water the plants.

The discovery of the Tunstall operation came after police raided a property in Bradford and seized 218 cannabis plants on September 5, 2013. It was estimated the plants could have produced a yield of 9.09 kilograms with a street value of £78,000. And a follow-on crop could have had a value of £83,000.

The defendant was linked to that ‘set-up' by forensic evidence.

Nguyen, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of producing cannabis.

Arif Hussain, mitigating, said Nguyen was in the country illegally and had fallen into the hands of people high up the criminal chain.

He said: "He had a choice of staying and doing what he was told or handing himself in to the authorities."

Mr Hussain added: "He was exploited by others and did not gain financially."

Judge Paul Glenn told Nguyen: "You were involved in the growing of 218 plants in Bradford. The potential yield from the plants found was almost 19 kilograms, with a potential street value of £161,000.

"You then came to Stoke-on-Trent and a further great number of plants were found at a former hair salon in Tunstall. Again the potential yield was significant and the minimum street value was £178,000.

"You are not naive. You realised what you were growing and continued to act in the capacity of a gardener. You came to the UK illegally. You had no right to remain or to work."

Judge Glenn said the 32 month sentence will trigger automatic deportation.

He added: "You will serve no more than half, then hopefully you will cease to be a drain on the British taxpayer."

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Vietnamese-man-grew-364k-worth-cannabis-Tunstall/story-22883343-detail/story.html 06/09/2014