Dad and son hid cannabis operation inside HGV lorry trailers

A FATHER and son were running a commercial cannabis growing operation using converted lorry trailers, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS

Jason and Liam Hill were caught red-handed with the crop when police officers swooped on the compound where they had a dozen large HGV trailer units parked. Swansea Crown Court heard the plants the Hills were growing had a street value of up to £85,000 while the value of the already-harvested crop found in the lorries was up to £63,000.

Regan Walters, prosecuting, told the court that at just after midday on October 22, 2023, police went to the former Western Logs depot on the main Afan Valley road near Cwmavon following intelligence that the site was being used for the cultivation of cannabis.

He said officers found a dozen HGV trailers parked close together in the compound, and in one of the trailers found 55-year-old Jason Hill sweeping up a "large amount" of cannabis plant cuttings.

The prosecutor said the trailer had been converted to grow cannabis and was equipped with lights and fans.

Police searched the compound and found Liam Hill in a building. Officers seized his phone, and the 35-year-old asked them if they could get his medication from the van parked outside. Officers retrieved the meds and also seized a diary and a wallet containing £760 in cash from the vehicle.