Illegal immigrants turned Scots home to £500k drug factory
A pair of illegal immigrants turned a humble Scottish terrace house into a half a million pounds drug factory.
The Vietnamese duo set up more than 500 cannabis plants behind closed doors in a quiet residential street in Dundee after sneaking into the UK.
When the property was raided, the cannabis inside the three-bedroom terrace was worth more than four times the value of the £125,000 house itself.
Ban Van Nguyen and Long Van Le were caught red-handed tending the huge crop of cannabis plants growing throughout the property at 2 Dighty Gardens in Dundee.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that 510 plants, with a potential value of £382,500, were recovered when the house was raided by police on 16 January this year.
The duo had also harvested more than 14 kilos of cannabis with a value of £143,060 and were drying it for onward sale when officers forced their way in.
Nguyen, 53, and Le, 33, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and producing the drug at the property on 16 January this year.
Fiscal depute Duncan McKenzie told the court: "In December 2024 and January 2025 Police Scotland received intelligence about a cannabis cultivation in a busy residential area.
" Entry was forced and both were found within. Most rooms in the property had been converted into a cannabis cultivation. The bedroom upstairs was used as a drying room.
"Cannabis bud was spread across the floor and being dried with a desk fan. Both were arrested. Their DNA was found on various items throughout the property.
"There were no reasonable grounds to conclude either was the victim of modern slavery. Neither have any right to remain in the UK. Both are being sought by the Home Office in relation to their immigration status."
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith remanded both men in custody for the preparation of social work reports and warned them to expect to be jailed for a considerable period of time.
He noted that an assessment on their background had been carried out already and it had been ruled that neither of the duo had been the victims of human trafficking.
"They are often subject to threats and intimidation and are often little more than slaves for their ultimate masters," he said. "You are not in that position.
"There requires to be a crystal clear message that courts in Scotland will not tolerate criminal gangs, from wherever they might originate, weaving their way into the fabric of our society and cultivating or distributing drugs, which you both did on a commercial scale.
"Deterrence is an important thing for the court to consider in the length of sentence, it being inevitable in both your cases that the court shall sentence you both to imprisonment."
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Asylum seekers are using taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits: More than 6,000 migrants used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos in past year
Asylum seekers are using taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits. Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing are being used in gambling venues such as bookmakers, amusement arcades and even casinos, Home Office data shows. In the last year, up to 6,537 asylum seekers have used the government-issued cards at least once for gambling. The shock figures were released under freedom of information laws to the PoliticsHome website. Last night they triggered calls for an immediate clampdown to prevent the abuse of taxpayers' money by asylum seekers, including many who entered the country illegally. The Home Office last night launched an inquiry into the scandal. A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Home Office have begun an investigation into the use of Aspen cards. 'The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers, including any dependants, who would otherwise be destitute.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the 'shocking' figures as 'an insult to taxpayers'. 'These people have illegally entered this country without needing to – France is safe and no one needs to flee from there,' he said. 'The British taxpayer has put them up in hotels and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling. These illegal immigrants clearly don't need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades. 'Labour has lost control of our borders with record numbers for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel this year. The number in asylum hotels has gone up since the election and now we learn of this insult to British taxpayers. 'Everyone illegally crossing the Channel should be immediately removed to their country of origin or a safe third country in order to deter these crossings.' So-called Aspen cards are issued to asylum seekers while they wait to have their claims dealt with – a process that can take months, or even years. Those in self-catered accommodation receive £49.18 on the card each week to pay for 'clothes and footwear, non-prescription medicines, travel, food, non-alcoholic drinks, toiletries, laundry, toilet paper and communications'. The cards are currently issued to around 80,000 individuals who are waiting for a decision on whether they have a valid claim to stay in the UK. Many are living in hotels at the taxpayers' expense. The Home Office is able to track where the cards are used but does not block payments for particular types of transaction. The figures reveal that significant numbers of asylum seekers are now using the cards to gamble. The Home Office figures break down how many asylum seekers attempted to use their cards in gambling venues each week. They do not record how many times each individual attempted to use their card in that week. They show that an average of 125 asylum seekers a week used their cards with 'gambling-related merchants'. Dozens used the cards every week, with 177 using them to gamble in Christmas week when many venues are closed. The figures peaked at 227 in one week at the end of November last year. The Aspen cards use a chip and pin system so cannot be used for contactless payments or online. A Home Office source insisted it was 'not possible' to use the cards to directly place a bet. However, the data is understood to include withdrawals made from cash machines inside venues such as amusement arcades and casinos – where gambling is the sole focus. Paul Bristow, Tory mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, suggested gambling by asylum seekers at the taxpayers' expense may even be fuelling the growth of the industry. He told PoliticsHome: 'Peterborough has seen a huge increase in the number of gambling establishments and gaming centres, and a huge increase in men who've arrived on small boats. 'It's not unusual to see the very same men in some of the establishments on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. There's something going on here. Questions need to be asked. It would be absolutely wrong if they were using money given to them by British taxpayers to waste on gambling.' Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice said: 'This revelation, coupled with migrants working illegally, shows that the Home Office is incapable of policing the illegal migrant population. This is a slap in the face to hardworking British taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet.' The revelations are likely to fuel concerns about the explosion in small boat crossings under Labour. Around 20,000 people crossed the Channel illegally in the first half of this year – a rise of 50 per cent on the previous year. Public anger is already mounting over the policy of accommodating tens of thousands of asylum seekers in hotels across the country, with angry protests erupting in recent days in Epping, in Essex, Diss in Norfolk and Canary Wharf, in London. The Aspen cards were introduced to provide basic subsistence for asylum seekers who are not legally allowed to work or claim benefits in most cases. But ministers are increasingly concerned at evidence of illegal working by asylum seekers, which may allow some to treat their taxpayer-funded handouts as pin money. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a clampdown on illegal working this week following a string of reports about asylum seekers earning money in the gig economy with delivery firms such as Deliveroo and Just Eat. In some cases, delivery bikes bearing the firms' logos have been seen parked outside asylum hotels. Firms will be issued with data on the locations of asylum hotels and ordered to stop using workers who appear to have been operating from there. But experts question whether this will work. Emma Brooksbank, immigration partner at law firm Freeths, said the plan was likely to prove ineffective. 'It will not be difficult for illegal workers to bypass this restriction and avoid detection. Companies like these gig economy operators are largely unregulated, and as such the usual right to work penalties of £60,000 per illegal worker do not apply. They have no real incentive to clean up their act.'
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Fury as over 6,000 migrants use pre-paid cards loaded with £50 a week funded by YOU at betting shops & casinos
Shadow Home Secretary brands finding a 'slap in the face' for British taxpayers MIGRANTS' BET SPREES Fury as over 6,000 migrants use pre-paid cards loaded with £50 a week funded by YOU at betting shops & casinos Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) OVER 6,000 migrants have used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos. Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing were used in gambling venues, Home Office data reveals. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Thousands of migrants have used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos Credit: Getty In the last year, up to 6,637 asylum seekers have used taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits. At the highest incidence, 227 asylum seekers attempted to use or successfully used the cards to gamble in a week last November. While attempts to gamble online using the cards had been made, they were blocked each time so they were forced to use them in physical sites. There are currently around 80,000 ASPEN card users in the UK. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told PoliticsHome: 'It is shocking that over 6,000 illegal immigrants have attempted to use hard-working British taxpayers' money to gamble. "They have illegally entered this country without needing to – France is safe, and no one needs to flee from there. 'The British taxpayer has put them up in hotels, and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling. 'These illegal immigrants clearly don't need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades.'
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Fury as over 6,000 migrants use pre-paid cards loaded with £50 a week funded by YOU at betting shops & casinos
OVER 6,000 migrants have used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos. Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing were used in gambling venues, Home Office data reveals. 1 In the last year, up to 6,637 asylum seekers have used taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits. At the highest incidence, 227 asylum seekers attempted to use or successfully used the cards to gamble in a week last November. While attempts to gamble online using the cards had been made, they were blocked each time so they were forced to use them in physical sites. There are currently around 80,000 ASPEN card users in the UK. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told PoliticsHome: 'It is shocking that over 6,000 illegal immigrants have attempted to use hard-working British taxpayers' money to gamble. "They have illegally entered this country without needing to – France is safe, and no one needs to flee from there. 'The British taxpayer has put them up in hotels, and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling. 'These illegal immigrants clearly don't need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades.'
