Cannabis farm man jailed

3:26pm Monday 28th January 2008

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STAFF at a shoe factory helped police uncover a sophisticated cannabis farm when they reported rubbish dumped in their car park.

The bags contained remnants of cannabis shrubs but a letter addressed to the occupants of a house in John Street, Oswaldtwistle, was also found.

When the property was searched in November, a large scale operation was discovered with over 380 plants at various stages of growth. Such was the scheme that it was estimated that the electricity bill for a year would have been about £23,000.

A Vietnamese illegal immigrant was arrested and told officers he had been offered a job to look after the plants, in return for £35 a day, plus free food and lodgings.

Vu Ro, 35, was jailed for six months by a judge at Preston Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to a charge of being concerned in the production of the Class C drug.

The court heard how matters came to light after several bags of rubbish were dumped on the car park of the Winfields shoe factory in Haslingden.

Mr John Woodward, prosecuting, said the bags contained what seemed to be the remnants of cannabis shrubs and cannabis waste.

But one of the bags contained the letter to the address on John Street.

Winfields staff notified the police and a warrant was executed at the house on the morning of November 6, under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr Woodward told the court: "Police found what they described as a sophisticated cannabis factory.

"A great deal of effort had gone into producing these cannabis plants.

"Clearly, this operation had been going on for some considerable time. The defendant is the only person to be arrested, but others have clearly been involved."

Ro, who had been the only occupant of the address, told police he had only been in this country for around six days. He said he had been walking the streets of an unknown town and went into a Chinese restaurant for food.

He also claimed that he only had Euros to pay for the bill and that a man offered to pay the bill and took him back to the address. He was there asked to water all the plants and look after them.

Mr Wayne Jackson, defending, said: "He was a pawn in a much bigger operation. It is as though the operators have just disappeared."

The judge, Recorder John Benson QC, told Ro in passing sentence: "I accept that you took the opportunity to become involved in this because you were a desperate man, having come to this country as an illegal immigrant, with no money and hoping to raise some funds that would allow you to get back to Vietnam."