Mercy for man who helped drugs gang

London-based Zong Wang, 41, was pressured into providing a front for the operation run by Boa Lung Huang and Zhouli Zhang after threats were made directly towards himself and his family.

Huang and Zhang were both jailed for life earlier this year for murdering their co-conspirator Cai Guan Chen in a drugs feud.

Mr Chen was battered to death at a cannabis farm in a warehouse on the Elvington Industrial Estate, near York. His body was discovered dumped in a canal at Burn, near Selby, in March last year.

Last month, the two killers, who operated a network of cannabis farms, were also jailed for their part in the drugs conspiracy. Wang was sentenced yesterday at Bradford Crown Court for his role in a conspiracy to remove criminal property from England and Wales spanning more than three years.

Judge John Potter told Wang: "Effectively what you engaged in was money-laundering the proceeds of large-scale cannabis production. The money was laundered through four of your accounts,"

Wang was estimated to have laundered between 500,000 and 750,000. Judge Potter jailed him for 10 months on the conspiracy charge, but suspended the sentence for two years. Wang will also have to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community.