UK - The gang operated one of the biggest cannabis networks in the UK, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
Police raided eight sites across the East Midlands in August 2008, including a former factory, and found cannabis plants worth £8m.
The eight men were given terms ranging from a suspended sentence to six and a half years in prison.
A ninth man, Aaron James Palmer, 29, Bulwell was found guilty at a separate trial and given a community order for 12 months ordering him to carry out 90 hours unpaid work.
Judge Michael Stokes said "the number of plants... comfortably exceeds anything we've heard of in this country before".
A subsequent investigation by Operation Vanguard led to a further six warrants being executed at properties in Nottingham, Radcliffe-on-Soar and Derbyshire, which had all been rigged with specialist growing equipment.
Detective Inspector Leigh Sanders said: "These men all carried out different but significant roles to develop a network of highly sophisticated cannabis farms, which could produce thousands of plants.
"Had all the plants reached full yield and been harvested they could have netted highly significant profits.
"Through intelligence led police operations I am glad to say we have taken out this gang, which had links with Vietnamese nationals, who came to the country to act as gardeners."
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: BBC
Contact: BBC - Homepage
Copyright: BBC MMX
Website:BBC News - Nottingham cannabis gang members sentenced
Police raided eight sites across the East Midlands in August 2008, including a former factory, and found cannabis plants worth £8m.
The eight men were given terms ranging from a suspended sentence to six and a half years in prison.
A ninth man, Aaron James Palmer, 29, Bulwell was found guilty at a separate trial and given a community order for 12 months ordering him to carry out 90 hours unpaid work.
Judge Michael Stokes said "the number of plants... comfortably exceeds anything we've heard of in this country before".
A subsequent investigation by Operation Vanguard led to a further six warrants being executed at properties in Nottingham, Radcliffe-on-Soar and Derbyshire, which had all been rigged with specialist growing equipment.
Detective Inspector Leigh Sanders said: "These men all carried out different but significant roles to develop a network of highly sophisticated cannabis farms, which could produce thousands of plants.
"Had all the plants reached full yield and been harvested they could have netted highly significant profits.
"Through intelligence led police operations I am glad to say we have taken out this gang, which had links with Vietnamese nationals, who came to the country to act as gardeners."
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: BBC
Contact: BBC - Homepage
Copyright: BBC MMX
Website:BBC News - Nottingham cannabis gang members sentenced
