Cannabis farmer caught with £96k plant haul

Dozens of large leafy green cannabis plants with silver growing equipment and foil surrounding them.Image source, Northumbria Police
Image caption,

Hundreds of cannabis plants were found in the rooms and attic of a house in North Shields in March

  • Published

An illegal immigrant who was smuggled into the UK to run a cannabis farm has been jailed for eight months.

Vietnamese national Vu Nguyen, 33, was found living in "miserable" conditions surrounded by 400 cannabis plants worth up to £96,000 at a house in North Shields in March, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He claimed he was working at the farm after arriving in the country "on the back of a lorry" five years ago.

Nguyen, who admitted producing a Class B drug, would probably be deported when his jail term ended but that would be up to the government, Judge Robert Adams said.

Mugshot of Nguyen. He has faint black stubble and neat short black hair.Image source, Northumbria Police
Image caption,

Vu Nguyen admitted producing a Class B drug

Northumbria Police raided a home on Wallsend Road on 26 March, prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari said.

Officers found a total of 400 cannabis plants in various stages of growth in rooms around the house and attic, the court heard.

Nguyen was found and arrested on the landing, having been sleeping on a "makeshift" bed in the kitchen, the court heard.

Ms Alistari said the plants had a yield value of between £21,000 and £96,000.

Dozens of small green cannabis plants in soil and pots stand in rows beside a foil wall.Image source, Northumbria Police
Image caption,

The plants could have had a yield worth up to £92,000, prosecutors said

Nguyen told police he entered the UK in 2020 "on the back of a lorry" and was farming the cannabis in exchange for food, the court heard.

He said he was afraid to leave the house as he did not know where he was, Ms Alistari said.

Judge Adams said Nguyen, who has a wife and child in Vietnam, had been living in "miserable" conditions having coming to the UK to make money for his family.

He said it was "likely" Nguyen would be deported but that was up to the government to arrange.

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