Electricity workers rumbled Corby cannabis factory run by illegal Chinese immigrants

Three Chinese men were running a large cannabis farm from a property in Kiel Walk, Corby.

They noticed the electricity box was red hot

Police busted a Corby cannabis farm after eagle-eyed electricity workers spotted an overheating power box on Corby’s Danesholme estate.

Officers were called to the house in Kiel Walk on July 10 last year when Western Power Distribution workers were working at another house in the street. They found a dangerously hot electricity box that supplied the house in question.

Police raided the house and discovered Chinese migrant Sheng Wu inside. Two other men, Cheng Huang and Quingquo Zheng, 54, of Brushfield Street, London, tried to flee the scene but were caught.

From left: Sheng Wu, Qingquo Zheng and Cheng Huang who have been jailed for 13 months for cultivating cannabis on Corby's Danesholme estate

Northampton Crown Court heard yesterday (February 9) that 14 black bin bags of harvested cannabis was found ready to be transported. Officers discovered 250 used plant pots, 40 heat lamps, eight extractor fans and 217 bags of soil.

The crown estimated that the cannabis had a wholesale value of up to £116,000 and a street value of up to £180,000.

Huang, 37, of Hibbert Road, London, had £430 in cash on him.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane was told that Wu, 52, of no fixed abode had a previous conviction from 2006 for the illegal sale of trademarked goods.

She was also told that Wu and Huang, 36, were illegal immigrants with no right to be in the country.

Mitigating, Liam Muir, said: “These men are in a country where they do not speak the language”, and asked Judge Crane to consider that the men had no control over the people running the drugs gang.

But Judge Crane said she considered that there was no evidence to show any pressure had been applied to the men.

They were sentenced to 13 months in prison but have already served half the sentence on remand so will be freed shortly.

The terraced property in Kiel Walk is in an area surrounded by young families and has been under Chinese ownership since 2017 when it last changed hands for £132,000. It now appears to be empty and has been vandalised by a local gang.

Another cannabis factory was discovered at the end of last year in Stanier Road in Corby. The man running it was sentenced to 30 weeks in prison after he told the court he was worried he would be killed if he didn’t comply.