Desperate friends jailed, 135kg of dope seized after raid at Narre Warren drug den
A tidy and unassuming house on a leafy Narre Warren street has been outed as a drug den, with more than 135kg of cannabis found growing inside. Also behind the curtains were two desperate men trying to make ends meet for their families.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A pair of cannabis crop cutters who made a desperate dash when police came knocking at a Narre Warren drug den have been jailed.
Vietnamese nationals Toan Vu, 23 and Son Pham, 29, pleaded guilty in the County Court on August 19 after close to 200 cannabis plants were uncovered on Wood Rd on August 12 last year.
The cash-strapped pair tried to flee through the garage along with another accused man when officers swooped just before midday.
Officers found more than 135kg of cannabis made up of plants, cuttings and dried substance spread across six rooms as well as lamps, water pumps, electrical transformers and an electrical bypass controlled by timing devices.
Judge George Georgiou heard Vu and Pham left their families and migrated from poor communities on student visas in 2015 and 2014 respectively and lived together for a number of months after meeting while working at a Victorian poultry company.
But when Vu couldn’t keep up with his English studies and Pham’s visa was cancelled without him knowing, they quickly ran into financial trouble.
Vu told police he accepted an offer to cut the plants from a man he met at Springvale shops, after struggling to survive in Melbourne on a $150 a week budget.
“(Vu’s defence submitted) to further your studies was the hope of your parents … through a better education in Australia you would have a better future, they borrowed money in order for you to study and travel,” Mr Georgiou told Vu on August 19.
“Then, your family relied on you to send them money to assist in repayment of the family’s debt … at the time of offending you had been unemployed for several months and were in a desperate emotional and financial state.”
Vu told police he was to be paid more than $1000 for visiting the house to cut plants over two days.
Pham had been cutting for 10 hours for a payment between $500 and $1000 when he was arrested.
Mr Georgiou said it was accepted the friends, who do not speak English, were not involved in the set up of the crop.
The housemates face a lengthy stay in immigration detention after jail due to strict coronavirus border lockdown operating in their home country.
“(The offending) was at a very low level … nevertheless commercial cannabis organisations rely on persons such as yourselves for their success …(your role) was still an important role and one which must be denounced,” he said.
“I accept neither of you entered the country to commit crimes in which you pleaded guilty to.”
Vu pleaded guilty and was convicted of cultivating a narcotic plant in a commercial quantity and was jailed for two years with a non-parole period of 16 months.
Pham pleaded guilty and was convicted of cultivating a narcotic plant and was sentenced to a year behind bar with a non-parole period of seven months.
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
MORE NEWS
WOMAN DIES IN CLAYTON SOUTH SMASH