Gang caught with £1.4m cannabis farm after electricity surge tipped off lease holder

A gang of Asian cannabis growers caught with a £1.4m cannabis farm have been jailed for a total of 17 years and three months.

Hung Nguyen, 31, Ho Cuong, 24, Nguyen Phong, 22, Wei Nguyen, 28, and Bui Nam, 38, were living on the premises at Polbeth Industrial Estate, West Calder, West Lothian.

They were caught after electricity use surged at the industrial unit at a former clothing factory.

A man had taken a lease on the property but had not started operations when he was made aware of a substantial increase in the consumption of power.

He went to the premises at the DAKS building, in the industrial estate, but found the locks to the main door had been changed before he managed to gain access on September 25, 2024, in another way, a court heard.

Advocate depute Iain McSporran KC told the court: “Upon entering, he observed a substantial and well-established cannabis cultivation.”

Mr McSporran said the five fled but the man who leased the unit called police “who attended in some numbers immediately”.

The advocate depute told the court: “All five were captured while attempting to make good their escape.”

Police found the premises were split into three separate growing areas with 400 juvenile plants separated from more advanced and mature plants.

Expert officers said that the crop of 850 plants had the potential to produce cannabis worth a maximum of £1,419,500.

Their view was that it bore the hallmarks of a professional drug cultivation enterprise, which would have required a significant financial investment to set it up.

It would also need skilled workers to grow large quantities of high-quality cannabis.

All five men admitted that they produced the Class B drug at the West Lothian premises between July 11 and September 25, 2024.

The court heard that Phong was on bail at the time, which was granted to him at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

He later admitted a cannabis cultivation offence and was sentenced to 17 months’ imprisonment.

Nam said after he was detained by police: “I was made to work. They brought me here.”

The court heard that the five were assessed for human trafficking, but the results were negative.

The sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow was told that Hung Nguyen, Ho Cuong, Nguyen Phong and Wei Nguyen were paying back a debt.

Lynsey Morgan, defending Bui Nam, stated that her client believed that he was coming to Scotland to start a cleaning job.

Ms Morgan said: “His involvement was borne out of economic necessity.”

Jonathan Price KC, defending Wei Nguyen, earlier told the court that his client thought that he would be growing tea.

Mr Price added: “He quickly realised that it was not tea – it was cannabis.”

Judge Lord Summers jailed Hung Nguyen for three years and seven months, Ho Cuong for four years, Nguyen Phong for two years and six months, Wei Nguen for three years and seven months, and Bui Nam for three years and seven months.

The judge said: “You operated the cannabis farm in question and you tended to the cannabis plants as was appropriate.

“As you all know, you are illegal immigrants, and after you have served your sentence, I anticipate you will be deported.”