Narre Warren cannabis crop sitter jailed after debt deal goes up in smoke
A CAR accident has been blamed for the reason why an overstaying student resorted to ‘crop sitting’ a drug house.
South East
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A CAR accident has been blamed as the reason why an overstaying student resorted to ‘crop sitting’ a drug house, a court has heard.
Khoa Dang Le told police officers he needed to pay off a the damage debt so did a deal to look after more than 100 cannabis plants at a Narre Warren property.
On July 12, the County Court heard police raided the house in which Le was staying in December last year.
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In one room they found 87 cannabis plants, in a second there were 12 more, in a third another 20 and a further seven were located in a fourth room.
An illegal electrical bypass system had also been set up.
He told police he had been staying at the premises for two or three months, but had no role in setting up the operation or profiting from drug sales.
He said he had been in a car accident at the end of 2016 and had to borrow $2500 to cover the damage.
In return he was asked to crop sit the drugs and the debt would have been forgiven.
The court heard Le left Vietnam in December 2012 and entered Australia on a student visa, which expired in March 2015.
He enrolled in a Masters course in Maritime Studies, but dropped out in March 2014.
After that he found various jobs including as a flooring worker, in farming and in gardening, where he met other Vietnamese people.
It was through these connections that he came to be involved in the crop sitting crime.
He told police he never knew who owned the house.
Judge Lisa Hannan said Le was remorseful, his prospects of rehabilitation were good and he had participated in education while on remand.
He was sentenced to 11 months in jail minus the 204 days he had already served in custody.
It is likely he will be deported upon release.
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