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Watch the moment officers from the National Crime Agency arrest a 33-year-old Vietnamese man and his partner in connection with a huge cannabis operations. — Video courtesy of NCA
BIRMINGHAM — A Vietnamese man has been arrested in the UK after police smashed an ‘industrial’ scale cannabis operation spanning across England.
The 33-year-old is currently in custody in Birmingham after officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered more than a million English pounds worth of the illegal drug.
His 24-year-old female partner, also Vietnamese, was arrested at the same time and is now being questioned.
Both were detained after a series of raids by police on a number of buildings being used to cultivate cannabis, including a three-storey former nightclub which contained around 1,000 plants worth an estimated VNĐ30 billion.
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| A 33-year-old Vietnamese national was taken into custody. — Photo courtesy NCA |
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| Police cut through a metal door during a raid in England. — Photo courtesy NCA |
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| Cannabis plants worth more than VNĐ30 billion were discovered. — Photo courtesy NCA |
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| Police officers discovered more than one thousand plants in one raid alone. — Photo courtesy NCA |
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| A high-tech hydroponics system is used to grow cannabis on an industrial scale. — Photo courtesy NCA |
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| Raids were carried out in both the West Midlands and Lancashire regions of the UK. — Photo courtesy NCA |
Other farms suspected of being connected to the gang were found in Birmingham and 180km away in Lancashire.
NCA senior investigating officer Paul Boniface said: “The scale and sophistication of the cannabis farms we have uncovered as part of this investigation suggests a criminal network capable of producing cannabis on an industrial level, generating hundreds of thousands of pounds in profit.
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A large 'industrial-scale' cannabis farm in Coventry, UK. — Photo courtesy NCA
“There is an added layer of exploitation to these types of criminal enterprises, with the networks involved often using individuals who have been smuggled or trafficked into the UK illegally to run their farms.
“Working with our partners at West Midlands Police and Lancashire Police we have been able to dismantle this particular network, make a number of arrests, and our investigation continues.” — VNS
