27/06/2007 00:00:00
UK: Man denies running London drugs factory
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A CARLISLE man accused of helping to run a cannabis farm claimed
yesterday that he only ever met his co-accused for dinner.
Nagoc Toan Vu, 40, of Currock Road, insists the discovery of a cigarette
butt with traces of his DNA on it at the drugs factory was a complete
mystery because he had never been there, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.
Vu was linked to the gang when police surveillance officers saw him
visiting the house of Kim Liem Nguyen, 36, and Chieng Van Tran, 41, who
were under surveillance.
But Vu claims he only ever saw Nguyen, and Tran, socially.
He said: “They asked me to stay for a meal. Every time I return to
London Kim Liem invites me to dinner and offers me somewhere to stay.”
Vu denies ever having visited a house in Gunton Road, Clapton, east
London, which police found to be a ‘fully operational cannabis factory’
containing more than 272 plants in five rooms.
“I don’t know how the cigarette got there. I have never been there,” he
said, “We share cigarettes. I give Chieng a cigarette and he gives me a
cigarette. Sometimes I smoke it but sometimes I would keep it. It’s just
polite to take it.”
Vu; Nguyen and Van Tran, both of Wellington Way; Bow Tham, of no fixed
address, and Thang-Dang, of Church Street, Lower Edmonton, all deny
conspiracy to cultivate cannabis, a class C drug.
Nguyen and Van Tran alone further deny possession of a prohibited
firearm and possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate.
Timothy Clark, defending Tran, said: “The reality is that you cannot
explain how the cigarette end ended up in Gunton Road and you accept
that there’s no evidence whatsoever for why it should be there.”
“I don’t know how it got there,” replied Vu.
The trial continues
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=514194
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12643
Author:
News and Star: Carlisle via UKCIA
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