Little Aston cannabis factory gang jailed

Aug 29 2010 by Chris Henwood, Sunday Mercury

GRAND wrought iron gates open to reveal a long sweeping driveway and a six-bedroom mansion in an area known as Millionaires Row.

West Midlands Police discovered a cannabis factory at Tennel House, Roman Road, Little Aston.

But behind the curtains was a huge cannabis factory manned by a horde of illegal Vietnamese immigrants.

The dream home in Roman Road, Little Aston, sits near properties owned by Aston Villa footballers, and actors, where the price tag for bricks and mortar regularly tops the million pound mark.

But when more than 50 cops were sent out to smash the operation in March, they found the first and second floors were being used entirely for the production of the controlled drug.

They recovered more than 1,100 plants together with a cultivation system capable of yielding an annual crop of more than 96 kilogrammes of cannabis.

West Midlands Police discovered a cannabis factory at Tennel House, Roman Road, Little Aston.

Situated on the Staffordshire and Walsall border, the luxury home was just one of a number of properties across the West Midlands used in the drugs operation.

A number of the team behind the operation have already been jailed and the latest convictions came on Friday at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Hung Phi Nguyen, 20, was arrested at the mansion while Trung Van Pham, 35, and Tam Thai Pham, 42, were picked up later. They all admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis and were each jailed for 27 months. Prosecutor Julian Elcock said Trung Pham and Tam Pham were present when a house in Gorway Road, Walsall, was raided and 123 plants were found.

He told the court that forensic evidence linked Trung Pham to two other cannabis factories in Walsall.

Judge Martin Walsh told them: This was a large-scale, sophisticated and highly organised conspiracy to cultivate large quantities of cannabis which were worth a substantial amount of money.

The men, added Mr Elcock, were working as gardeners inside the cannabis factories, having been promised bed and board.

Mohammed Nasser, defending Tam Pham, said the father-of-two had been in the UK for a month having travelled here to work so he could provide for his family.