Two Vietnamese nationals sentenced over cannabis crop house in Portland

Duong Le, 33, and Thanh Tran, 28, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool County Court last year to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis, dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime and failing to comply with directions.

On Thursday they were jailed for three years and six months.

They must serve a non-parole period of 22 months and have already served 534 days in custody on remand.

The court heard an unknown male used fake identification to rent out a large industrial shed in Portland's Kunara Court in May, 2020.

The shed was modified, and a hydroponic system and electrical bypass system were installed, causing substantial damage to the building and $10,000 of electricity was stolen.

Detectives later located videos of Le and Tran's movements inside the large shed which contained 179 cannabis plants, weighing 348 kilograms.

The court heard the weight was 14 times the commercial quantity of cannabis, however it was accepted there was no awareness or intent to cultivate such an amount.

Judge George Georgiou said he accepted there was no evidence implicating Le and Tran in renting the shed or setting up the commercial crop house.

But he said it was clear they both attended the property on numerous occasions.

He said during a police interview, Le exercised his right to silence while Tran claimed he didn't know what the plants were, that he only attended the shed on one occasion and he went there with a stranger he met at a market.

"It's clear you weren't entirely frank with police when interviewed," Judge Georgiou said.

He said he was prepared to draw the inference that the men operated at a relatively low level in the hierarchy of the operation and they were perhaps most at risk of being caught.

The judge noted a prosecution submission that their roles were vital and provided some protection for those who set up the system by minimising the opportunity for their involvement to be detected by authorities.

He said there was no use attaching the label of cropsitters because it was "imprecise" and that lawyers didn't press the issue during the plea hearing.

"But the fact remains that you were involved in the cultivation of a significant quality of cannabis in what was a sophisticated hydroponic operation which also involved the theft of electricity," Judge Georgiou said.

"The role you each played was important to the success of the crop and its ultimate harvest and sale."

The judge said he accepted the pair was remorseful and that Tran felt he had brought shame to his family, who still lived in Vietnam and had remortgaged their family home in order to send him to Australia.

He said it was likely the two men would be deported upon their release from custody.

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