Two jailed after cannabis farm found in former Bannatyne HQ Darlington

Minh Nguyen and Thanh Vo was both arrested when the ‘industrial scale’ farm was discovered in the former Bannatyne headquarters in Darlington town centre.

The pair, who had both been illegally trafficked into the country, were tasked with looking after the huge crop of Class B drugs while other were responsible for collecting and distributing the illicit haul.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the farm was spread across 14 different rooms in the former officer block on Haughton Road and almost £50,000 had been invested in setting up the illegal farm with specialist watering and heating systems being installed.

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Ian West, prosecuting, said electricity meters were also discovered to have been bypassed, with power illegally extracted from the local substation.

The cannabis farm inside the former office block on Haughton Road, Darlington. (Image: Durham Police)

“Several of the rooms were used for the cultivation of cannabis with plants in various stages of cultivation,” he said.

“These two defendants were arrested at the premises - Nguyen had attempted to escape via a window but was caught and Vo was found on the premises.

“The valuation by the prosecution drugs expert was more than £1m on the streets. About £45,000 worth of equipment had been deployed in the premises.”

Nguyen, 34, of Haughton Road, and 32-year-old Vo, of no fixed abode, both pleaded guilty to being involved in the production of a Class B drug.

Brian Russell, representing Vo, said his client had only been at the cannabis farm for a short time after being ‘kidnapped’ in Newcastle by the two men he first met when he was brought into the country.

Thanh Vo (Image: Durham Constabulary)

He said a ‘sinister’ chain was positioned next to the bed where his client slept while working at the site.

Robert Mochrie, on behalf of Nguyen, said his client had paid to be trafficked into the UK and was forced to work to pay off his debt.

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Recorder Martin Rose sentenced the pair to two years and three months each and told them they would likely be deported once they are released from prison.

He added: “It seems to me this is a cannabis farm which can be properly described as industrial. It involved a significant number of plants and the money that had been invested into it had clearly been done with the expectation of financial gain.”

Firefighters tackling the blaze at the former office block on Haughton Road, Darlington, two months after the cannabis farm was discovered. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Two months after the site was raided on March 29 this year the building suffered significant damage when it was set alight.