Raid on Wakefield home unearthed almost 260 cannabis plants over three floors
A raid on a home on a residential-street unearthed hundreds of cannabis plants capable of producing kilogrammes of the drug.
Officers forced their way into the property on Avondale Street in Wakefield and arrested 50-year-old Anh Nguyen from inside.
He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after admitting a charge of producing the Class B drug.
Acting on intelligence, officers smashed their way into the property on November 4 last year.
They found 259 plants in various stages of growth, along with the usual lamps, extractors and and transformers.
More than 100 plants were close to being harvested, and estimations suggest they were capable of producing 11kg of cannabis worth tens of thousands of pounds.
It was thought that the remainder of the plants would have produced a further 16kgs.
Mitigating, Daisy Wrigley said Nguyen’s story was “familiar” to the courts. He had come to the UK for a better life and help support his family.
She said he was left in a position where he had no choice but to help cultivate cannabis.
He had previously found work on building sites.
The court heard that he received food and shelter to monitor the cannabis grows and was afraid to leave the property.
Nguyen appeared in court from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
The judge, Recorder Helen Chapman, conceded there was a “level of exploitation”.
She jailed him for six months.