Six people who exploited Vietnamese workers who had been smuggled into the UK for forced labour on cannabis farms have been imprisoned.
Mai Van Nguyen, 35, Duong Dinh, 38, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, 30, Shamraiz Akhtar, 54, Tasawar Hussain, 54, and Amjad Nawaz, 43, were found guilty of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of people to force them to work in exploitative conditions on cannabis farms and of a conspiracy to produce cannabis between 1 June 2020 and 18 August 2022 at Birmingham Crown Court and sentenced to 15 years, 14 years, 11 years and six months, 10 years and six months, 10 years, and 12 years imprisonment respectively.
A long and detailed investigation by the National Crime Agency, supported by the Crown Prosecution Service, discovered that the defendants arranged for victims, people who had been smuggled illegally into the UK, to be trafficked around the UK to work in cannabis farms.
The defendants conspired together to move the victims, equipment, and cannabis around the UK.
The victims were held in conditions of modern slavery where their movements were controlled. The prosecution’s case showed that all of the defendants were involved in a conspiracy to produce cannabis on a large scale.
Lauren Doshi of the Crown Prosecution Service said, “These defendants make use of vulnerable people who are driven by poverty to seek to work illegally in the UK. They were forced to involve themselves in the production of cannabis in order to repay debts incurred in Vietnam, as well as the cost of their travel to 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.
“The CPS is continuing to work with law enforcement partners to discourage, disrupt and dismantle this exploitative trade through prosecutions and cross-border collaboration.”
National Crime Agency Branch Commander Kevin Broadhead said, “This gang 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.
“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.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA, and it is cases like this that demonstrate exactly why.
“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.”
