A MAN growing £100,000 worth of cannabis plants was rumbled when patrolling police officers walking past his Stourbridge home caught a strong whiff of the controlled drug, a court heard.
When the officers went inside the property in Charles Road they discovered 184 plants were being cultivated inside the three bedrooms - Robert Edwards, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court.
He told said the plants were at various stages of growth in what was a well-organised "cannabis factory".
When questioned illegal immigrant Tue Dau admitted he had been hired to act as a gardener for the plants which he had been feeding and watering.
He said he had been given no payment for his role in the operation - only accommodation and the food he found in the fridge at the property.
The 50-year old, a man of previous good character, admitted producing cannabis and was jailed for eight months by Judge Michael Dudley.
He told Dau it was accepted he had found himself in a difficult position after being brought to the West Midlands but he had clearly known it was a "serious" criminal operation.
Malcolm Fowler, defending, said Dau - who will be deported back to Vietnam on completion of his time behind bars - was desperate for money to pay medical authorities after undergoing surgery.
Mr Fowler added: "He lost his accommodation in London and, in desperation, he accepted being transported to the West Midlands to look after these plants."
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