Rough-sleeping migrant was exploited by UK drugs trade

COURT TOLD HOW MAN LEFT WITH CANNABIS CROP FLED VIETNAM TO FIND WORK

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

A CANNABIS gardener caught tending a £50,000 crop in a Nottingham loft told police he got involved after being approached by "a white westerner" who saw him sleeping rough.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Hoang Nguyen, 32, left Vietnam to avoid exploitation and found himself caught up in the world of drugs here.

He answered the door to the police dressed in just a pair of shorts after the UK Border Force linked the Bestwood home to the supply of the Class B drugs following an earlier seizure. A search uncovered the crop.

In mitigation, Dominic Shelley said: “We hear these cases often and they are increasing in their frequency. These are stories of men who set up cannabis farms in properties and prey upon men such as this defendant like parasites.