Three in court over 'cannabis farm'

POLICE discovered a batch of houses converted into cannabis farms by Asian crime gangs after they arrested men with a harvested consignment of the drug bound for Glasgow.

Almost £200,000 worth of thedrug was being grown at properties in the Dundee area.

A failed political asylum seeker, and two men smuggled into Britain, were caught leaving a house in the city with a crop of cannabis worth £89,200, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Ping Chen, 28, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and Ren Gao, 19, and Zi Sin Ling,27, pleaded guilty to producing the drug.

Advocate-depute Adrian Cottam, prosecuting, said: "Intelligence gathered nationwide suggests properties are being privately rented by Chinese and Vietnamese nationals who use the addresses solely for the purpose of cultivating cannabis."

The judge, Lord Emslie, deferred sentence on all three men for background reports. The trio, all prisoners, were remanded until 11 November when they are due to appear at the High Court in Dundee.