Jail for illegal immigrants who grew cannabis across Wirral

Sep 10 2008 by Sue McCann, Hoylake and West Kirby News

MEMBERS of a gang of illegal immigrants who ran a string of cannabis factories have been jailed.

They converted 11 houses in Hoylake, Wallasey, Prenton, Birkenhead and other parts of Merseyside to grow nearly £500,000 worth of cannabis.

In a raid on one of the houses, in King’s Gap, Hoylake, cannabis with a street value of more than £85,000 was recovered.

Gang members who acted as “gardeners”, watering and tending to the plants, were given shorter sentences, while more senior members, who oversaw cultivation, got longer.

Dong Wang, 41, and Tian Li, 28, who were both linked to more than one property and managed the operation, were jailed for three years.

Zhi Wong, 53, Xiang Shi, 23, Xiao Liao, 51, and Letian Dong, 32, were given two-year prison sentences for their role as gardeners.

Ng Leng, 46, was jailed for 28 months.

The men will be deported once they have served their sentences.

Judge Nigel Gilmour QC said: “Each of you has committed a crime, which was producing cannabis by growing many cannabis plants.

“The profit from that activity would have been very large. I accept none of you would have shared in these profits.

“You committed the crime so you could eat and support yourselves in a foreign country.”

The arrests were part of a police crackdown on cannabis production in Merseyside, codenamed Operation Jade.