A VIETNAMESE gang built a cannabis factory in the centre of Llanelli that was so powerful people could smell the drugs as they walked passed.
Inside 83 Old Castle Road illegal immigrant Son Nguyen was cultivating cannabis plants capable of producing drugs with a street value of £180,000—every three months.
But a tip off to the local police brought a sudden end to the venture and a 12 month prison sentence for 26 year old Nguyen.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court how officers executed a search warrant at the end of terrace house on January 28.
They spotted Nguyen climbing out of a window but he gave up his escape bid and returned inside.
Officers found the property had been turned into a “sophisticated” cannabis factory and 223 plants were growing in three rooms.
More than 40 powerful lamps had been installed along with other expensive equipment and the electricity meter had been bypassed so as not to reveal how much power was being used.
Mr Simpson said the plants were capable of producing crops of up to 18 kilos of cannabis with a street value of between £62,000 and £180,000.
After his arrest Nguyen said he had been living in China and had been smuggled into the United Kingdom via France and in the back of a lorry.
He said he was quickly approached by a man he did not know and offered a job “watering some plants.”
Nguyen’s barrister, Robin Rouch, said he had been promised a better life in the UK but that had not materialised.
The process of deporting Nguyen, he added, was already underway.
Nguyen had admitted being concerned in the production of a controlled drug.
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