Video: Drug feud two jailed for brutal murder of Chinese national at cannabis farm

TWO men have been jailed for life for the brutal murder of a Chinese national whose battered body was dumped in a Yorkshire canal after he was killed in a drugs dispute.

Bao Lung Huang and Zhouli Zhang were convicted by a jury in July of the murder of Chen Cai Guan, 38, at a cannabis farm near York last year, but the case can only be reported today after other trials concluded.

The victim, whose surname is Chen, had lived illegally in the UK under a false identity since 2001. His body was found by anglers fishing the Selby Canal near Burn on March 20 last year.

International police inquiries then linked him to the cannabis factory raided by North Yorkshire officers the month before at an industrial unit at Elvington, near York and bloodstains uncovered beneath plasterboard and paint revealed the truth behind his terrible death.

Huang, 44, from Fujian in China, said by his co-accused Zhang, to be a member of the 14K triads, was ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years, while Zhang 49, from Dong Bei, China but who was arrested at an address in Scarth Avenue, Doncaster, was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years in jail.

Sentencing them at Leeds Crown Court in July Mr Justice Butterfield said: "This was a brutal killing because you two fell out with your victim over the sale of a harvest of cannabis."

He was satisfied when they attacked Mr Chen they intended to kill him and subjected him to a prolonged and severe beating during which his skull, jaw, cheekbone, eye socket and an arm was fractured.

"You then set about clearing up the scene of the murder, covering up as best you could evidence of the killing and dumping his body in a canal many miles from the unit itself, no doubt hoping it would never be found."

Both men are expected to be sentenced today at Leeds Crown Court for conspiracy to produce cannabis at the factory after a different jury convicted Huang on that charge yesterday. Zhang had previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Hidden behind the guise of a Chinese cash and carry supermarket, police who raided the premises discovered more than 900 plants and 2,500 cannabis cuttings with a potential yield of 300,000.

At the first trial Shaozhe Wang, 23, also from Dong Bei, was cleared of murder but found guilty of acts intended to pervert the course of justice by helping to clean up at the murder scene. He admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis and was jailed for a total of six years nine months.

Xia Hua Chen, 27, was also found guilty of acts intending to pervert the course of justice by helping to clear up the scene and admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis. He was jailed for a total of four years nine months.

An Zheng, 31, described as a gardener at the illegal factory, was jailed for two years three months for cannabis production and failing to surrender to bail.

Another man Dai Lihua Dai, 49, was jailed for two years after the inquiries linked him to a separate cannabis farm in Doncaster.

North Yorkshire's Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell paid tribute to those behind the inquiry, saying: "The investigation into Chen Cai Guan's murder and the large-scale production of cannabis has been complicated and wide-ranging."

He said it had taken the team just under a year to piece together the many facets.

Background: Blight of cannabis revealed by hunt for killers