Gangsters who forced migrants to work in cannabis farms jailed for 80 years
Eight members of a ruthless crime gang who forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms have been jailed for a total of 80 years in the UK.
The organised crime gangs that produced drugs on 'an industrial scale' exploited vulnerable migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work.
Workers were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands.
Two separate National Crime Agency (NCA) investigations into the activities of the organised whose ringleaders were both based in Birmingham, revealed how they ran farms across the Midlands, London and north of England.
The first gang was dismantled following an NCA investigation into the activities of convicted people smuggler Mai Van Nguyen (35) of Beetham Tower, Birmingham.
He led a criminal network involving fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh (38) from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran (24) from Lewisham, London, who exploited migrants by putting them to work.
Mai Van Nguyen, Duong Dinh, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, Shamraiz Akhtar, Tasawar Hussain, Amjad Nawaz (Image: NCA)
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th
A trial at Birmingham Crown Court in January and February heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, both 50 and from Birmingham, were paid hundreds of pounds for moving migrants around various properties for the gang,
They would also transport cannabis or equipment for the farms.
A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz (44) from Birmingham, acted as a middleman for Nguyen as they organised workers, the buying and selling of cannabis, and arranging for properties to be used in Birmingham.
Their trial heard from a victim of trafficking, a Vietnamese national named only as 'Witness Z' who was exploited by the gang after arriving in the UK by boat in November 2020.
Witness Z said he had no choice but to work in a number of cannabis grows, as he was in debt bondage to the people who had transported him to the UK.
He was arrested in June 2021 after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in Hartlepool where they found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying 'take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English'.
Officer also discovered a hand-written diary extract from a migrant in which they ask 'why did I get beaten up and forced to work?'
Over the course of the NCA investigation cannabis farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire.
Harvested cannabis was recovered from a further property in Hall Green, Birmingham.
Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but the others denied the charge.
All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but were found guilty of all charges on Monday, February 24 following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Today, Nguyen was jailed for 15 years, Dinh got 14 years, Tran was sentenced to 11-and-half years, Nawaz 12 years, while Hussain and Akhtar got 10 and 10-and-a-half years respectively.
In separate hearing at the same court two other members of a second organised crime group were also sentenced today.
Roman Le (37) from Birmingham, was the leader of a gang that operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties, as well as a storage facility housing both equipment and harvested cannabis.
Posing as property developer, Le sourced the properties and either bought or rented them, in some cases erecting scaffolding around the buildings, making it look like renovation work was taking place, to disguise the real use.
Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng (29) from Manchester, and David Qayumi (36) from Birmingham, to source and operate the properties including a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former public house in Birmingham, and an old hotel in Lancashire.
Together, the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis.
Qayumi, who posed as a businessman, worked alongside with Le to buy, rent or sub-let the properties, while Feng acted as an 'operations manager' making sure the secret factories kept working.
Today, a judge handed Feng a sentence of three-years-and-two-months in prison, Qayumi got three-years-and-four-months. Le will be sentenced on 30 July.
NCA Branch Commander Kevin Broadhead said today's sentencing hearings are the culmination of two major NCA investigations.
'These gangs were involved in drug production on an industrial scale, often exploiting migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work, or who were working to pay off debts,' he said.
'The men sentenced today didn't care that these migrants were brought to the UK in incredibly dangerous ways in lorries or in boats and were then made to live in degrading conditions, often under the threat of violence. They just saw them as a way to make money.
'The sentences handed out today should serves as a warning, the NCA is determined to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal gangs involved, and we will use all the powers at our disposal to do so.'
Lauren Doshi of the Crown Prosecution Service added: 'These defendants make use of vulnerable people who are driven by poverty to seek to work illegally in the UK.
'They were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
4 hours ago
- Sunday World
Man who head-butted and punched victim at Garda station said ‘alcohol is my kryptonite'
Stephen Martin (33) and the victim had 'words' before he reacted disproportionately and attacked him in an 'ugly incident'. An 'out-of-control' man who head-butted and punched another man in a Dublin garda station had a drink problem and described alcohol as his 'kryptonite'. Stephen Martin (33) and the victim had 'words' before he reacted disproportionately and attacked him in an 'ugly incident'. Judge John Hughes jailed Martin for six months, saying the location of the assault was an aggravating factor as people went to garda stations for help and information. Martin, of Rheban Manor, Athy, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to assault. Pearse Street garda station. Photo: Getty Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 5th Dublin District Court heard the accused was in the public office of Pearse Street garda station on June 28 last year when he was seen acting aggressively. He head-butted a man who was there and struck him with his fists to the head, Garda Sergeant Farrah Fox told the court. The man suffered minor injuries and bruising, but did not wish to make a victim impact statement. Martin had 180 previous convictions for offences including criminal damage and attempted robbery. The victim had not provided any statement or co-operated with the investigation, so Martin's guilty plea was of 'some assistance,' his solicitor Kate McGhee said. The two men were known to each other and there were 'words between them' on the day, but Martin was not trying to excuse himself and accepted his response was 'entirely disproportionate'. 'He accepts it wasn't a nice incident in any way, it was an ugly incident and he regrets his actions,' Ms McGhee said. Martin's previous convictions 'paint a picture of a very troubled man', with a huge number of them related to alcohol. He had suffered bereavement and trauma which he struggled to deal with, and increasingly turned to alcohol over the years. He had made attempts to deal with his drinking and had been in rehab. In a letter to the court, Martin referred to alcohol being 'my kryptonite for a long time, but I constantly turn to it'. He also said 'there's no excuse for my behaviour'. 'It's a sad situation, he accepts his behaviour when intoxicated is out of control,' Ms McGhee said. 'He has never been able to conquer his demons.' 'If you assault a person in the public office of a garda station, there's a reasonable expectation that you will go to jail,' Judge Hughes said. A condition of Martin's appeal bail, if he takes it up, is that he stays away from the victim.
Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Barry George gets ‘substantial' damages over articles about Jill Dando case
Barry George, the English man whose conviction for the murder of BBC presenter Jill Dando was overturned, has received 'substantial' damages from two newspapers, according to his lawyers.
Sunday World
18 hours ago
- Sunday World
Gangsters who forced migrants to work in cannabis farms jailed for 80 years
Workers were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands Eight members of a ruthless crime gang who forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms have been jailed for a total of 80 years in the UK. The organised crime gangs that produced drugs on 'an industrial scale' exploited vulnerable migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work. Workers were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands. Two separate National Crime Agency (NCA) investigations into the activities of the organised whose ringleaders were both based in Birmingham, revealed how they ran farms across the Midlands, London and north of England. The first gang was dismantled following an NCA investigation into the activities of convicted people smuggler Mai Van Nguyen (35) of Beetham Tower, Birmingham. He led a criminal network involving fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh (38) from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran (24) from Lewisham, London, who exploited migrants by putting them to work. Mai Van Nguyen, Duong Dinh, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, Shamraiz Akhtar, Tasawar Hussain, Amjad Nawaz (Image: NCA) Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th A trial at Birmingham Crown Court in January and February heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, both 50 and from Birmingham, were paid hundreds of pounds for moving migrants around various properties for the gang, They would also transport cannabis or equipment for the farms. A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz (44) from Birmingham, acted as a middleman for Nguyen as they organised workers, the buying and selling of cannabis, and arranging for properties to be used in Birmingham. Their trial heard from a victim of trafficking, a Vietnamese national named only as 'Witness Z' who was exploited by the gang after arriving in the UK by boat in November 2020. Witness Z said he had no choice but to work in a number of cannabis grows, as he was in debt bondage to the people who had transported him to the UK. He was arrested in June 2021 after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in Hartlepool where they found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying 'take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English'. Officer also discovered a hand-written diary extract from a migrant in which they ask 'why did I get beaten up and forced to work?' Over the course of the NCA investigation cannabis farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire. Harvested cannabis was recovered from a further property in Hall Green, Birmingham. Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but the others denied the charge. All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but were found guilty of all charges on Monday, February 24 following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Today, Nguyen was jailed for 15 years, Dinh got 14 years, Tran was sentenced to 11-and-half years, Nawaz 12 years, while Hussain and Akhtar got 10 and 10-and-a-half years respectively. In separate hearing at the same court two other members of a second organised crime group were also sentenced today. Roman Le (37) from Birmingham, was the leader of a gang that operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties, as well as a storage facility housing both equipment and harvested cannabis. Posing as property developer, Le sourced the properties and either bought or rented them, in some cases erecting scaffolding around the buildings, making it look like renovation work was taking place, to disguise the real use. Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng (29) from Manchester, and David Qayumi (36) from Birmingham, to source and operate the properties including a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former public house in Birmingham, and an old hotel in Lancashire. Together, the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis. Qayumi, who posed as a businessman, worked alongside with Le to buy, rent or sub-let the properties, while Feng acted as an 'operations manager' making sure the secret factories kept working. Today, a judge handed Feng a sentence of three-years-and-two-months in prison, Qayumi got three-years-and-four-months. Le will be sentenced on 30 July. NCA Branch Commander Kevin Broadhead said today's sentencing hearings are the culmination of two major NCA investigations. 'These gangs were involved in drug production on an industrial scale, often exploiting migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work, or who were working to pay off debts,' he said. 'The men sentenced today didn't care that these migrants were brought to the UK in incredibly dangerous ways in lorries or in boats and were then made to live in degrading conditions, often under the threat of violence. They just saw them as a way to make money. 'The sentences handed out today should serves as a warning, the NCA is determined to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal gangs involved, and we will use all the powers at our disposal to do so.' Lauren Doshi of the Crown Prosecution Service added: 'These defendants make use of vulnerable people who are driven by poverty to seek to work illegally in the UK. 'They were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands.'
