Two men who were exploited and put to work as gardeners of a £2.2million cannabis farm in Whitehaven which racked up £540 a day in electricity bills have been given jail terms.
Police executed a warrant at the King Street address just after midday on 24th November last year and found a large and professional illegal commercial operation, Carlisle Crown Court heard today.
This was spread across nine different rooms and featured a total of 1,489 plants weighing in at almost 234kg. This had an estimated potential street value of up to £2.2million and a wholesale value of up to £900,000.
Amid a sophisticated setup were yards and yards of plastic sheeting, fans, air ducting, liquid fertiliser and lamps, while the electricity supply had been bypassed with multiple plug boards found by police. Also discovered were living quarters used by the two men put to work tending the criminal enterprise.
Electricity costs for this were £540, said prosecutor Tim Evans, with the total energy cost of producing cannabis from seedlings to maturity said to be £34,000.
The two men involved in the illicit activity were Vietnamese duo Huy Tran, 23, and 33-year-old Ty Vo. “This was a large operation as these things go,” said Mr Evans.
Vo was found by police hiding on the roof of the address, while Tran was located in the street injured having leapt from a height and broken his heel. Both later admitted an offence of cannabis production.
As they were sentenced this morning, lawyers for the two men painted a tragic picture of their upbringing and personal circumstances.
Both were said to have been exploited. Vo had been brought to the UK by road from China on a “lengthy and terrifying journey” having found himself in dire financial straits as he struggled to pay back a loan.
Tran had been transported to Russia initially and then in a wagon to the UK with 10 others.
“Sometimes the human story gets lost in cases of this type,” said defence barrister Judith McCullough, for Vo. “Those involved put profit over human lives and suffering.”
The men, both of no fixed address, had been remanded in custody since November, and were given immediate prison sentences of 13 months.
“Each of you has been exploited by more criminally sophisticated people and each of you has been put to work against your will in a cannabis farm,” said the judge, Recorder McDonald, as he passed sentence.
The judge added: “This was a large scale operation.”
