Cannabis gang pair are now behind bars

Thi Cuc Le, aged 43, and Hong Lam, 47, both of Crankhall Lane, Wednesbury, received sentences of five years and four months and five years respectively at Lincoln Crown Court. Kieu Oanh Le, 32, and Hoai Nguyen, 43, both of Ninveh Road, Birmingham, were both jailed for 21 months while Kirandeep Virk, from Leicester, received an 18-month sentence.

They had all pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to produce cannabis.

The gang grew more than 1,000 cannabis plants at addresses in the West Midlands, West Mercia, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

The convictions come after police found 400 cannabis plants at a house in Derbyshire. A 35-year-old Vietnamese man, Tuan Ho, who was growing the plants, was jailed for two years and three months when he appeared at an earlier hearing at Derby Crown Court. While officers were guarding the house on the night of the raid they saw a suspicious car go past several times.

They stopped the car and found £8,000 in cash plus mobile phones and SIM cards, which they were able to link between Ho and other people involved in the drugs ring.

The owner of the house in Derbyshire also owned properties in Mansfield and Kirkby-in-Ashfield and had employed a letting agent, Kirandeep Virk, to source his tenants. Unbeknown to the property owner, Virk had been working with Thi Cuc Le and Hong Lam to find tenants for the properties who would grow cannabis.

Officers raided the properties and found 223 cannabis plants at a house in Dudley. A 17-year-old Vietnamese man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with producing cannabis. He was locked up for two years when he appeared at an earlier hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Another 17-year-old Vietnamese man was found hiding in a loft at a property in Mansfield. At an earlier hearing he was given 30 months after pleading guilty.

Police also raided a property in Telford and found 252 cannabis plants but no-one was found at the address.