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A cannabis-growing operation run by "gangsters" was discovered when police raided factory premises, a court heard.

There were 1,600 plants being cultivated at the old Dunlop factory, in Leicester's Evington Valley Road. Of those, 850 were at full maturity, capable of producing about 17 kilos of the class B drug, worth many thousands of pounds.

Leicester Crown Court heard that sophisticated watering, lighting and heating systems were in place and the electricity meter had been bypassed.

Three illegal immigrants, from Vietnam, were caught on the premises, living in squalid conditions, on March 3. They had been employed by a criminal gang to work as gardeners.

The three, Tu Cong Bui (35), Tuan Duong (24) and Chien Trung Le (3 all pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.

Bui and Duong were jailed for two years and Le, who entered his plea at a later stage, received a sentence of two years and three months.

They had been served with notices of intended deportation at the end of their sentences, said Esther Harrison, prosecuting. She told the court that the cannabis factory had been installed on the second floor of the building.

Ms Harrison said: "There were a large number of plants, but also enough room for a lot more in the factory.

"Of the plants seized, 750 were nursery plants in various early stages of growth, some in incubators.

"The defendants were living in a crude living area.

"They had mobile phones and about
100 each on them."

In police interview, Le claimed he had been offered accommodation there and when he arrived he had seen the plants but he did not know what they were.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Pert QC said: "Factories of this nature are almost always under the control of organised crime groups. They are run by, and for the benefit of, people we call gangsters.

"I entirely accept the role each of you played was at the bottom rung of responsibility."

Defence counsel said the men had been approached separately while living in London and offered accommodation, food and money.

Bui was said to have lived in a Vietnamese slum area and had come to the UK, hoping he could earn money to send back home to his wife and two children.

Duong and Le claimed they had not profited from their involvement in the venture.

Le was said to have come to the UK hoping to make a bright future for himself but found the reality completely different and ended up in low-paid menial jobs. Their living conditions were poor and were made even worse by the noise of the equipment and the stench of the plants.

The defendants were said to have been locked in the factory building and to have felt unable to complain about the conditions to the "gangsters" running the operation.

Ear

Bongme