Cannabis factory migrant is sent to jail
A 35-year-old illegal immigrant found at a Black Country drug factory which was capable of producing £225,000 worth of cannabis a year has been jailed for eight months.
Hoa Hoang was alone at the property in Mill Street, Darlaston, when police swooped on October 3, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday. They discovered 812 skunk plants growing in six rooms of the house that had been targeted after officers detected the tell-tale smell of drugs as they passed on an earlier foot patrol.
Hoang said he had only been there for 11 days and was acting as a 'gardener' after being smuggled in to the UK the previous year, the court was told.
Prosecutor Mr Howard Searle said: "The plants under cultivation could produce £88,000 worth of drugs and with several crops a year were capable of an annual yield valued at £225,000."
The cannabis was being grown under protective sheeting with ventilation equipment and timers, the court heard.
Mr Jasvir Mann, defending, said father of two Hoang had left his wife and family behind in Vietnam where they lived in poverty and come to the UK illegally last year after being promised work.
Mann said: "He was an underling carrying out the orders of others under strict conditions. He would welcome the opportunity to return to his homeland."
Hoang admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis between September 21 and October 4 and was sent to prison by Judge Michael Challinor who said: "You played a minor role and will be deported on completion of the sentence."
