Gang chiefs jailed after police smash cannabis farm network

Khoan Lin Phung, 48, her brother Tien Phung 51, and Quang Ngo, 36, were part of a drugs operation generating huge prospective sales from 16 "farms" stretching from South Yorkshire to Teesside, but mainly centred in Wakefield.

Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday that plants with a potential cannabis yield of 74 kilograms (163lb), worth an estimated 462,000, were found growing at one large operation alone in Dolphin Lane, Wakefield.

Jailing the trio, Recorder Colin Burn said their production was on an "industrial scale".

He added: "You were involved in a conspiracy to employ individuals, at 16 different addresses from Wakefield to Teesside, to set up and tend cannabis farms.

"Some properties were owned by you or by your family while large sums of cash in relation to other properties, were paid up front as rent or bonds.

"Regular visits were made to these properties and you went to great lengths to ensure that the landlords did not know what was going on."

He said in almost every case the electricity supply was by-passed, defrauding those companies of thousands. "On any view this was well-organised, structured and sophisticated."

Courts regularly dealt with the gardeners who were caught at such properties but rarely "those who control and co-ordinate the operation".

Khoan Phung, of Irwin Street, Wakefield, originally from Vietnam but now a British citizen, was jailed for seven years for conspiracy to produce cannabis and possession of criminal property.

Officers seized more than 39,000 in cash when they raided the home of her elderly mother in London. Recorder Burn said he was satisfied she "pulled the strings" in the operation.

Khoan Phung's partner, Ngo, of the same address, and Tien Phung, of Clifton Street, Middlesbrough, were both jailed for a total of 12 years after each admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis and were found guilty by a jury of kidnap.

Ngo also admitted wounding the victim of that offence with intent.

The kidnappers tried to extract personal details from the victim Van Dang, intending to use the information to forcibly recoup money lost in a fire at one of the cannabis farms.

When he refused to give them the information, Ngo stabbed him in the leg. He was told he was going to be driven to Manchester and killed but managed to jump out at red lights and seek help.

Tien Phung's partner Ben Lian, 37, originally from Malaysia, received a nine-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months with 250 hours unpaid work after she admitted being involved in the production of cannabis.

The conspiracy continued from January 2006 until August 2008. Other plant seizures were made in Wakefield at addresses in Silcoates, Broadway, Hatfield Street, Trilby Street, Avondale Street, Swithenbank Avenue, Pinderfields Road, Hawthorne Avenue.

Plants were also found at houses in Newport Road and Clifton Street, Middlesbrough, and Midland Road, Royston, Barnsley.

Richard Barradell, for Khoan Phung, said she became tempted after becoming involved with people who rented property for production.

Matthew Harding, for Ngo, said he was not at the top of the operation but often left with the "donkey work and sent off to B&Q to buy things".

Recorder Burn commended police officers in the case.

After the sentence, Det Insp Pete Darbyshire said: "This was a protracted and difficult investigation into a professionally organised Chinese and Vietnamese crime group who had a long established network of cannabis production and supply throughout the UK.

"Cannabis causes misery to local communities and puts lives in danger, not only of those who consume it, but those who live nearby a cannabis farm as a fire at one of the addresses in Royston, Barnsley, proved.

"Due to an electrical fault it destroyed the majority of the building and there is no doubt that lives were put at risk."