Six in court after drugs discovery
Six men have appeared in court following their arrest in connection with a £1m cannabis farm discovered in a disused factory in Northampton.
Bon Truong, aged 47, Trach Nguyen, 46, and Minh Pham, 38, all of no fixed address, were brought from custody to Northampton Crown Court yesterday.
They are charged with being concerned in the production of cannabis, now a class B drug, following the discovery of a cannabis factory in the St James area of Northampton in April.
They sat in the court dock, alongside their three Vietnamese interpreters, speaking to confirm their names, that they understood the charges and to enter their pleas to the charge.
Pham pleaded guilty to the single allegation while Truong and Nguyen denied the charge and their case was adjourned for a trial to be held later this year.
The court heard Pham will be sentenced at the conclusion of his co-accuseds' trial.
Michael Aransibia, 22, Wayne Starke, 20, both of Newham, east London and James Taylor, 19, of Canvey Island, Essex, appeared in the same dock for yesterday's hearing.
They are charged with possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and affray.
But they were not required to enter pleas by Recorder William Harbadge QC as barristers acting for Taylor and Aransibia intend to apply to have the charges dismissed.
The three British men were arrested outside the old bakery in St James Park Road, St James, in Northampton, at about 3am on Wednesday, April 29.
Police had been alerted by reports of a disturbance involving between 15 and 20 men.
It is alleged the three British defendants had been at the scene intending to steal some of the cannabis from the Vietnamese men, who were allegedly growing it.
A Ford Transit van was found with 11 large laundry bags full of cut cannabis, which led police to search the apparently disused building where there were thousands of cannabis plants in various stages of growth. It is the largest seizure of cannabis so far this year, which has seen dozens of makeshift factories being raided by Northamptonshire Police.
Aransibia, Starke and Taylor deny knowing anything about the factory.
Recorder Harbadge adjourned the case until later this month and further remanded all six defendants in custody.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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