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Tip-off led police to major drugs find

Chris Jones
4/ 9/2008

TWO men have been jailed after a Blackley drugs farm with a crop worth an estimated £70,000 was raided by police.

Both men were sentenced to 21 months in prison for the production of cannabis at the Lion Works on Old Market Street.

Twenty three-year-old Long Nguyen of Have Lock Road, Birmingham, and David Tran, 22, of Geach Street, also in Birmingham, were handed the sentence on Monday (1 September) at Manchester Crown Court.

A third man, Hoang Van Nguyen, 38, is also wanted by police after skipping bail.

PC Neil Saxon from the drugs unit in north Manchester said: "This was a significant recovery of cannabis that was clearly headed for the streets of Manchester. Some of the plants were mature and so this factory had clearly been in operation for quite a while.

"Once again our messages to look out for signs of cannabis farms are getting out there to the public who are so key to helping locate and shut down these farms."

The Lion Works was first raided last August following calls from a concerned member of the public that a major drugs operation was being undertaken inside.

Officers found over 1500 cannabis plants at the scene, capable of producing around £1.5m worth of cannabis, £70,000 of harvested cannabis along with sophisticated lighting equipment.

At the time police described it is one of the largest hauls from a raid undertaken as part of an operation to target drugs farms in north Manchester.

Following the successful conviction of two men connected to the drugs farm after an anonymous tip-off, police are urging members of the public to report their suspicions.

Tell-tale signs of a drugs farm include suspicious visitors arriving at the property on a regular basis at unsocial hours, large amounts of electrical wiring, light fittings, chemicals or compost being delivered to residential houses, along with bright lights coming from a building.

A drugs farm property would also typically have blacked out windows, a strong smell, and excessive heat coming from the premises.