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Nail bar owners ordered to repay more than £375,000 from cannabis conspiracy

Van Dang, a woman being arrested in Darwen, and a cannabis farm in Tottington <i>(Image: Lancs Police)</i>
Van Dang, a woman being arrested in Darwen, and a cannabis farm in Tottington (Image: Lancs Police)

Two people who were convicted for operating a network of cannabis farms in houses across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands have been ordered to pay back more than £375,000 in ill gotten gains.

Lin Van Dang and Thi Nguyet Nga Ho appeared at Preston Crown Court on Thursday for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, almost two years to the day since they were sentenced for their respective roles in a large-scale cannabis conspiracy.

The pair were arrested alongside Cam Thi Ho and Ho Qa Dongcame after officers raided houses and nail bars in Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton in 2019.

Lancashire Telegraph: Van Dang
Lancashire Telegraph: Van Dang

Van Dang (Image: Lancs Police)

In October of that year, officers went to a house in Dormer Street, Bolton, and in a locked bedroom found a notebook containing detailed cannabis grow lists, written in Vietnamese, and paperwork linking that property to the Darwen home of defendants Van Dang and Thi Ho and defendant Ho Qa Dong.

The following day officers searched the home of Van Dang and Thi Ho and although the defendants weren’t present, four other people were found in the premises who were linked to the investigation.

Officers also found £3,740 cash, a ‘burner phone’ which was later linked to a number of cannabis grow houses and Van Dang’s device and a utility bill in Van Dang’s Range Rover for a property in Market Street, Tottington, which was found to contain hundreds of cannabis plants.

The burner phone was linked to five properties - Railway Street, Nelson; Ebenezer Terrace, Billington; Market Street, Tottington; Lawrence Close, Huddersfield; Owen Road, Walsall.

When those properties were searched officers found a total of 1,489 cannabis plants with a combined street value of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Lancashire Telegraph: Woman arrested in Darwen
Lancashire Telegraph: Woman arrested in Darwen

Woman arrested in Darwen (Image: Lancs Police)

All of the addresses were rented in false names, often using fake documentation including false passports.

The investigation also revealed that attempts were made to rent other properties in East Lancashire and illegal workers were used to staff and live in the cannabis factories.

Analysis of Van Dang and Thi Ho’s finances showed the pair, who ran nail bars in Blackburn, had a combined declared income between 2018 and 2020 of £73,317.

However, an examination of their bank accounts showed cash deposits totalling £225,889.

Van Dang was sentenced to four and a half years custody, Cam Thi Ho was sentenced to three years and Ho Qa Dang was sentenced to 27 months.

Thi Ho was sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 12, and given a three-month curfew.

Lancashire Telegraph: A cannabis farm in Tottington
Lancashire Telegraph: A cannabis farm in Tottington

A cannabis farm in Tottington (Image: Lancs Police)

At the hearing on Thursday, Recorder Kate Cornell ordered Van Dang to repay a total of £321,323.59 with Thi Ho ordered to repay £64,875.82.

The pair must repay the money within three months or a default jail sentence of three years in respect of Van Dang and 10 months in respect of Thi Ho will be activated.

From this sum they were also ordered to pay compensation of £19,199.16, to two victims, home owners Nigel Hulme and Matt Rawlinson, to cover lost earnings and refurbishments to their properties which were used in the cannabis conspiracy.