Drugs farm 'masqueraded' as repair shop - court

A drugs farm in Bradford was masquerading as a car body repair shop, with dusty-looking vehicles used as "camouflage", a court has heard.

When officers raided the building in Mulgrave Street in February, they found almost 1,000 cannabis plants with a street value of up to £548,000.

Bradford Crown Court heard how three illegal Vietnamese immigrants were arrested at the scene, with one man having attempted to escape by climbing across the roof.

At the same court on Thursday, Ngoc Ha, 38, Tran Quang Hung, 45, and Nguyen Thanh, 40, were jailed for two years after they admitted producing cannabis.

Officers found a total of 996 plants in various stages of growth and it was estimated that the plants could have produced nearly 55 kilograms of cannabis.

The crop could have been worth up to £548,000 if sold on the streets and its wholesale value was said to be about £192,000.

The court heard the plants were grown in a temporary wooden structure which had been erected on the mezzanine floor of the unit.

The unit also contained a kitchen with a fully stocked fridge and freezer, as well as two bedrooms, and the electricity supply had been bypassed.

Prosecutor Ayman Khokhar told the court the wooden structure was made up of 10 growing rooms and a nursery room.

"On the ground floor there were several dusty-looking vehicles to give the pretence that the premises were a vehicle body shop," he added.

One of the three men arrested said he had only been at the premises for five days, while another claimed that he had been threatened and locked in the unit.

Recorder Edward Legard said he was satisfied that the operation had been capable of producing significant quantities of cannabis for commercial use.

"The industrial unit was masquerading as a car body shop," he said.

"There were a number of redundant vehicles both within and outside the unit.

"They were parked there in order to give the impression that this was some kind of car body shop or similar, but essentially that was a camouflage for the illicit activity that was being undertaken within."

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