By Goya Dmytryshchak
Two men have pleaded guilty to trafficking cannabis after being caught transporting the drug from a Newport house.
Nam Trung Tran and Thang Van Le were caught leaving an Anderson Street address in a car containing four bags of freshly cut cannabis weighing 35 kilograms and one bag of eight juvenile cannabis plants weighing 584 grams.
The County Court heard the duo had been seen carrying large plastic bags from the property to the vehicle. A search of the property revealed that a cannabis crop was being grown or had been grown inside, and about 50 cannabis plants were found.
The court heard Tran was hired to clean up the house where the cannabis was being grown while Le had agreed to assist him.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Scott Johns said Le, 44, had played a subordinate role to Tran, 34.
“The nature of this type of broad criminal activity, that is cannabis cultivation in properties such as this one in Newport, is that it relies on persons such as yourselves becoming involved, thus keeping those individuals whose criminality and moral culpability is higher at arm’s length,” he said.
“Due to this insidious aspect of the overall criminality, general deterrence is an important factor to deter others of previous good character who might be tempted to become involved in this type of peripheral activity relating to trafficking.”
Tran, who had served 441 days in pre-sentence detention, was sentenced to 15 months jail.
Le was sentenced to 24 days’ jail, which had already been served, and a two-year community corrections order to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work.
