Vietnamese illegal immigrant faces deportation AGAIN after he was caught growing cannabis for a THIRD time when police busted £3million factory at luxury farmhouse

An illegal Vietnamese immigrant has been jailed for running a £3million cannabis factory from a luxury farmhouse in a picturesque village.

More than 500 cannabis plants were seized after police swooped on the secluded farmhouse in leafy Downton on the Rock, near Ludlow in Shropshire.

Hanh Nguyen, 37, originally from Vietnam, was caught trying to run from the remote farmhouse and was arrested at the scene.

A court heard how he faced deportation from the UK once again, having been caught producing cannabis three times previously.

Officers were stunned when they found an industrial-sized cannabis farm being run from the sprawling property on May 15.

The haul was estimated to be capable of making the criminal gang behind the operation around £3million a year. 

He claimed he had only been there for a day but he later went on to plead guilty to production of cannabis at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The court heard Nguyen had entered the UK illegally, having first arrived in 2004 and was deported in 2012 for previous cannabis offences.

On Tuesday, he was jailed for three years and was told he would be deported back to Vietnam upon his release. 

Judge Jonathan Gosling said: 'This is now the second time you have come illegally to this country and the third time you have been caught cultivating cannabis.

'I accept that this was not your operation. You didn't set it up but you were a very valuable helper and you were doing it for money.'

Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said that the farmhouse was rented to three individuals other than Nguyen from June 2018.

Police visited in May this year to investigate the drugs operation and surrounded the building before storming the property.

Inside they found 531 cannabis plants, spread throughout five of the house's six bedrooms, and cut plants being dried in the sixth.

Miss Cortese said: 'This defendant was seen running from the rear door towards open fields. He tripped over and was arrested by police.

'There was nobody else present at the address.

'Inside the property was a commercial-scale cannabis operation. In total there were 531 cannabis plants.'

On searching the farmhouse police also found four vacuum-packed bags of cannabis and £350 in cash behind a sofa.

Jamie Scott, defending, said his client had been trafficked to the UK via China, and once he arrived in London was tasked with running the cannabis operation.