Vietnamese immigrant jailed for tending cannabis plants
An illegal Vietnamese immigrant who was tricked into looking after a cannabis factory in Bristol has been jailed for 21 months.
Cuong Pham travelled to Britain on the back of a lorry and was offered work looking after "grass" which he later discovered was 250 cannabis plants inside a converted house in Staple Hill.
Pham, 27, of no fixed abode, was discovered on his own inside the building by police armed with a drugs search warrant.
Pham, who doesn't speak any English, admitted a single charge of producing cannabis.
Robert Reid, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, said the defendant and the cannabis factory in Lower Station Road, Staple Hill, were discovered by police on October 30 this year.
Mr Reid said: "The sole occupant, Pham, was arrested. The house was found to have been converted into a cannabis cultivation factory, the electricity meter having been bypassed and windows blacked out."
He said 250 plants were recovered from different rooms in the house and more cannabis was being dried.
James Haskell, defending, said his client came to the UK expecting to earn more money and had not expected to be involved in an illegal operation.
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by GingerRog, Bristol
Saturday, November 22 2008, 9:22PM
“Alex would not moan about the smoking of cannabis if the person doing so was on a bike!!”
by lee, bristol
Saturday, November 22 2008, 8:33PM
“gawd alex dont half winge if cannibis was made legal he`d probably the first to moan about people smokin it near him and pollutin the air!!
or a factory built to grow it!!
cant win can they really??”
by spike, bristol
Saturday, November 22 2008, 2:38PM
“Why didnt the police watch the place until the person whose plants it was turned up to collect his produce.The person they captured is just another victim of trafficing and exploitation.The persons behind the crime probably have several other factories on the go .The real criminals are free to carry on doing their dodgy business”
by Grahame, Central Bristol
Saturday, November 22 2008, 12:50PM
“@ Alex
I understand your point and your sentiment. I might not agree with it but I do get what you're getting at.
If one starts with the percepetion of exploitation as the bigger evil, then to get rid of exploitation we need to remove the channels through which people can be exploited. Is that a fair paraphrasing?
The issue surely is that illegal migrants can only work under the state radar, so inevitably will be open to exploitation. They've put themselves into that situation through their choice - entering the country illegally. We can't insulate them from the consequences of that choice unless we a) allow anyone to come here who chooses to; (in which case we'd be swamped). Or b) legalise any activity which could otherwise 'exploit' these people.
While I get the arguments for and against legalising cannabis, the logical result of that argument (b) would be to effectively require the legalistion of other illegal activities too - such as prostitution for example. I just can't see that working. And I don't see why, as a country, we should effectively regularise illegal activities simply to stop those who come here illegally being exploited! Instead, I'd argue that if those who come here are effectively exploited, then that itself has a deterrent value, and one that has a much lower social cost.”
by Twitch, Avon Gorge
Saturday, November 22 2008, 11:38AM
“I don't think we can realy stop ILLEAGLES - they still have wings and they may be just feigning their illness once they arrive to claim
ILLEAGLE benefits.”