Two men found at 'significant' Leeds cannabis farm with £111,000 worth of plants to be deported to Vietnam
Two Vietnamese men have been told they will be deported from the UK after being found at a “sophisticated” cannabis farm in Leeds.
Dan Nguyen, 46, and Dinh Tran, 37, were both “gardeners” at an address on Torre Hill in Harehills where over £110,000 worth of skunk cannabis was discovered.
The two men were each jailed over one count of the production of cannabis at Leeds Crown Court on Friday (September 6). Nguyen had pleaded guilty to the charge while Tran was found guilty following a trial in August.
For the prosecution, Matthew Bean told the court that on January 18 police attended the address as it was “believed to be linked to cannabis growth”.
Nguyen was seen entering the house and, after more officers were called, police entered through the back door and found the kitchen “full of cannabis plants”. A further three rooms with cannabis plants were discovered upstairs and all four were “set up in a professional manner”.
Mr Bean said: “The property was set up for long-term production. It was described as sophisticated with significant costs and was synonymous with those used by organised crime groups.”
The two men were arrested at the scene; with 13 kilogrammes of skunk cannabis discovered with a total street value of £111,750.
Following his arrest Nguyen told police that he had been in the country since 2017 and that he had been forced to work at the site as he owed a debt. Mr Bean said: “He said he would be assaulted if he didn’t look after them properly by those who employed him.”
Nguyen also claimed that he was “unable to leave by his own free will”, though this was rejected by the Crown as he was found with £445 in cash on him.
Representing Nguyen, Emily Woodside said that her client was “essentially a gardener” and he was “under instruction at all times”. The court also heard that he had “overstayed his visa in a wish to support his family” back home in Vietnam.
Tran was also described as a “gardener” at the site by his representative, Adrian Strong, who added that he had arrived in the UK illegally last summer “having run up debts from a failed chicken business in Vietnam”.
Mr Strong said: “The group he owed money to assisted him with passage to the UK.”
Sentencing the duo, His Honour Judge Simon Batiste said he was “prepared to accept you were performing a relatively limited role” and said there “may have been some intimidation and coercion”.
Tran was jailed for 20 months while Nguyen was sentenced to 15 months; with both being told that they will serve half of their sentences before being considered for release. The two men were also told that upon their release they would be deported back to Vietnam.