Cannabis

By Sen   &nbspDecember 21, 2018 | 01:38 pm GMT+7 A Vietnamese has been charged with drug and cash-related offenses after being caught with five kilos of cannabis in Australia. Photo by Shutterstock/photolona A Vietnamese man has been arrested in the Australian city of Perth after police found five kilograms of cannabis in his car. On Tuesday last week, officers stopped a Toyota Camry in Beechboro and found the drug in the trunk, The Canberra Times newspaper reported. The driver was a Vietnamese national who did not have a valid visa. The police then searched his house in nearby Balga and found AUD12,000 ($8,500) in cash. He, and a passenger in the car, have been charged with drug- and cash-related offences. It is not known whether the police had been tipped off about the consignment or the seizure was the result of a routine search. Last year Australia had set up a police taskforce to target cannabis cultivation in houses across Western Australia believed … [Read more...] about Vietnamese man caught with 5 kg of cannabis in Australia

A cannabis farm in England. Photo by Reuters/Kham A U.K. court Wednesday sentenced 16 Vietnamese nationals to prison for running illegal cannabis farms worth $1.2 million. According to the indictment, the gang, 11 men and five women, used false identities and fraudulent documents to rent 21 homes in small towns in the Lancashire County before turning them into cannabis farms and raking in hundreds of thousands of British pounds from the illegal business. Some of the gang members presented themselves as a couple with a new-born child to gain their landlords’ confidence. Later, they turned the rented properties into cannabis farms, the Lancashire Evening Post reported. In March this year, police officers in Lancashire raided a number of properties leased by the gang members as part of their investigation to crack down on the large-scale drug ring. Police also seized cannabis worth around £1 million ($1.2 million) and $315,639 in cash. Police said the operation was run by … [Read more...] about UK jails Vietnamese gang for farming cannabis

The Newcastle Herald reported that Nga White, 44, was investigated by local authorities after a receipt from her nail and beauty salon was found in a cannabis dump site in the Wallsend suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, in March last year. Detectives found that Nga owned or leased at least eight properties in the region. The properties were placed under surveillance from April to August last year. Police found seven Vietnamese men, deemed Nga’s "underlings" in the syndicate, cultivating large quantities of cannabis on the properties. Six of them were found to have come to Australia illegally. Last month, three of the seven men were arrested with 18 kilograms of cannabis by local police in Newcastle. A local house raid followed, and Nga was arrested. Nga appeared in the Newcastle District Court last Thursday. During her arraignment, she pleaded not guilty to charges of "directing the activities of a criminal group," "cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis," … [Read more...] about Vietnamese Australian woman faces trial for running cannabis syndicate

Hundreds of cannabis plants were found in six separate homes in the suburbs of Maitland, New South Wales during multiple raids in the area by local police in February, the Wednesday report said. Vuong Luu Quoc, Anh Quang Pham, Tuan Dac Trinh and Kim Phuong admitted in the Newcastle Local Court Wednesday to “crop sitting” the cannabis plants at homes in Tenambit, Heddon Greta and Morpeth in February. “Crop sitting” refers to the act of living inside homes while watering and keeping watch on cannabis plants grown there. Anh Thy Vu, wife of Quoc, pleaded guilty to "concealing a serious indictable offense" after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew a charge of "cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant," quoted The Herald. She was said to not have been involved in the cultivation of the cannabis plants. Quoc and Pham pleaded guilty to “cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant.” Quoc, Pham, Trinh and Phuong will … [Read more...] about Five Vietnamese nationals in Australia part of $2.8mln cannabis operation

Experts raised the warning on Monday, after new figures emerged showing the scale of cultivation of the illegal drug. Police have found 314 illegal cannabis farms in the British capital since 2016, according to official data obtained by the London Evening Standard newspaper, the equivalent of one every two days. Experts say children are being trafficked from Vietnam and other countries to work in these farms, which are often located in residential properties, and that the scale of the problem has been vastly underestimated. “The high number of cannabis farms across London and trafficking of Vietnamese children to work in them is extremely worrying,” said Jakub Sobik, a spokesman for Anti-Slavery International. “Potentially thousands of children and young people are being trafficked from Vietnam and exploited by ruthless criminal gangs,” he said. Catherine Baker, policy officer at anti-child trafficking organization ECPAT U.K., said authorities often treated … [Read more...] about Discovery of London cannabis farms raises child slavery fears

Canada is set to become the first G7 country to legalize cannabis after lawmakers on Monday passed a bill that would allow free consumption of the mind-altering drug. Passed by 205 votes to 82 in the House of Commons, the legislation must still pass the Senate - which could delay, but not block it - and receive royal assent by the governor general before becoming law, likely by September. Legalizing weed was a 2015 campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has acknowledged smoking a joint with friends "five or six times" including since being elected as an MP. The Liberal government's pointman on the pot file, Bill Blair, said at the weekend it was "probably looking at a date of implementation somewhere toward the beginning of September, perhaps mid-September." Uruguay approved the recreational usage of marijuana five years ago and nine US states and the capital Washington have done so too, but Canada will be the first G7 country to take the step. An initial July 1 target … [Read more...] about Canada lawmakers vote to legalize cannabis