Man caught growing €80k worth of cannabis

A Vietnames man living in the UK was caught growing over €80,000 worth of cannabis at a house in Kilbrittain in Co Cork and yesterday he was sentenced. He had been in custody for the past eight months.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin imposed a five-year sentence on him yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court backdated to June 2014 with the balance suspended from yesterday.

Bau Fong Le, aged 52, pleaded guilty to having cannabis for sale or supply and cultivating it. He gave an undertaking yesterday to leave Ireland as soon as possible and not to return any time in the next five years.

Detective Garda Andrew Manning obtained a warrant to search the house and went there with colleagues on June 18, 2014. Gardaí went to the house at Hacketstown, Kilbrittain, Co Cork, made a forced entry to the house and found a large quantity of cannabis, 361 plants were found. Some 101 mature plants were found, each with a potential street value of €800, giving a €80,800 total.

Bau Fong Le pleaded guilty to having cannabis for sale or supply. He was described as being almost destitute and was offered the opportunity to make money by growing the cannabis.

A Vietnamese woman also living in the house at the time previously got a 12-month suspended sentence.