Australia: Vietnamese men sentenced for role in cultivating $30 million cannabis crop

Header Image: Nam Hai Pham (left), Huu Lam Luong and Henry Pham (right) outside court with solicitor Mai Pham. (ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)

In short:

Four Vietnamese-born men have been sentenced for being involved in a criminal gang and for cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.

The men were arrested when police raided a remote property in northern New South Wales in November 2022.

What’s next?

Three of them will serve their sentence in the community, while the fourth faces deportation once released from jail.

A court has heard how financial stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led four men into labouring at a sophisticated cannabis-growing operation in northern New South Wales.

The men pleaded guilty to being involved in a criminal group and cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis on a remote property at Ellangowan, south of Casino.

The operation was busted by police in November 2022.

At the property, police seized 8,388 cannabis plants in nine large grow houses with an estimated potential street value of up to $30 million.

During sentencing on Thursday, Lismore District Court heard the men were promised either lump sum payments or a monthly wage of $3,000 to work on the farm, but these were mostly unpaid.

Raed full report

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-12/cannabis-operation-sentencing-drug-law-court/104328668

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