FOUR Vietnamese illegal immigrants who ran huge cannabis farms from a flat, a house in Nelson and a landmark Burnley pub have been jailed.

Burnley Crown Court yesterday heard how Hai Nguyen, 23, Ha Nguyen, 34, and 46-year-old Tuan Pham, all of no fixed address, were “virtual prisoners” who between them looked after operations involving around 1,350 cannabis plants.

The three men were arrested by police last month after officers raided the Duke of York pub, in Colne Road, and another property on the road.

And on Tuesday Trung K Nguyen was jailed for 12 months after admitting being the front man for a cannabis factory on Carr Road, Nelson, where police found 445 cannabis plants and 489 seedlings.

Yesterday Hai Nguyen and Ha Nguyen were jailed for 15 months each while Pham was sentenced to 12 months after all three earlier pleaded guilty to producing Class C drugs.

The court heard that when police swooped on the disused Duke of York they found Nguyen and Nguyen inside, along with more than 1,000 cannabis plants in four rooms. The following day, they raided a flat in Colne Road, finding Pham along with 335 plants.

Mercedeh Jabbari, prosecuting, said that Nguyen and Nguyen later told detectives that they had been brought to Britain by a mysterious gangmaster who contacted them from a withheld phone number.

They were then paid between £200 and £3,000 a month to plant cannabis seeds and look after the drugs plants.

Meanwhile, Tuan Pham had arrived in Burnley from London only a few days before being arrested by police having potted 250 cannabis seeds for about £500, Miss Jabbari said.

Philip Holden, defending the men, said they had all come to Britain from Vietnam and poor families. They had all borrowed money to get to the UK illegally and were controlled by a gangmaster.

He said: “They feared the ramifications of failing to repay the debt and what would happen to their families back home.”

Tuesday’s hearing was told Trung K Nguyen, of no fixed abode, had been lured from the London restaurant where he worked all hours for a pittance to East Lancashire.

Mercedeh Jabbari, prosecuting, told the court on May 2, police went to the four storey, 15 plus room house on Carr Road where they found plants with a street value of £145,000. Trung K Nguyen had been paid £100 for his week-long menial role.

After the case, Det Insp Dean Holden, who led the raids on the properties, said: “I think the sentences will act as a good deterrent.”