A FARMER in Co. Down has been jailed after being caught growing a “substantial” amound of cannabis.
Poultry farmer Clive Weir, of New Road, near Hillsborough, was handed a three-year sentence at Craigavon Crown Court yesterday and was ordered to spend 18 months in prison and 18 months on licence.
During an earlier court appearance, Weir pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis, using criminal property and converting criminal property.
The cannabis farm found in Co. Down (Pics: PSNI)The court heard that in February 2023 PSNI detectives located a cannabis farm at his property.
“On February 3, 2023 detectives investigating organised drug criminality, supported by local Neighbourhood and District Support Teams, attended Mr Weir’s address in Annahilt,” Detective Inspector Kelly from the Police Service’s Organised Crime Branch said.
“Officers located a substantial cannabis farm in a silo a few yards from the rear door of the resident’s house.
“Two men, Anh Nguyen and Quy Nguyen, were discovered living in a caravan inside the building and were arrested for drugs-related offences,” he added.
Is is estimated the operation was capable of making millions of pounds over a number of harvests“They were both charged and later sentenced to one year in prison and one year on licence for cultivation of cannabis.”
Det Insp Kelly explained that it took specialist police search officers four days to dismantle the cannabis farm due to the “sheer size and complexity of the construction”.
“Mr Weir was not present at his property when the cannabis farm was discovered, but was later interviewed by detectives regarding his involvement in the operation,” he added.
“Due to the vast quantities of drugs found, we believe this operation was capable of making millions of pounds over a number of harvests,” he confirmed.
“This was a large and sophisticated cannabis farm and was clearly a well organised operation, which bore all the hallmarks of organised criminal gang involvement.
“These drugs would have made their way to other criminal groups across Northern Ireland, who in turn attempt to increase their grip on communities by onward supply and profiteering.”