FruityBud
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Chinese immigrants set up a cannabis farm worth more than £300,000 in a cottage - leased to them by a cop.
The house was one of five raided by police in a bid to stop drug barons building a network of dens.
Yesterday, student Jing Hai Zeng was fined £10,000 for his part in setting up the operation at Evelix, Dornoch.
Zeng was also involved in the cultivation of cannabis at another house in Fearn, Easter Ross.
Tain Sheriff Court was told the 24-year-old was the "fall guy" in a shady Triad operation.
He helped provide equipment for growing cannabis at the two properties over three months last year.
When police raided Corner Cottage at Evalix - owned by PC Neil Bremnar - they discovered an established cannabis farm of 1011 plants, worth £339,696.
No plants were found at the house at Fearn but the property had been adapted for drug production with an irrigation system put in place.
The court was told Zeng, of Knightswood, Glasgow, helped provide equipment for the operations and was responsible for renting out the cottage.
He escaped a prison sentence after Sheriff David Sutherland accepted that his involvement was at the lower end of the scale.
The sheriff fined Zeng, who admitted two charges of being concerned in the cultivation of cannabis, £5000 on each charge.
All five homes targeted in the raid were being leased out by their owners.
Red-faced police chiefs were angry one of their officers was unwittingly connected with the crime but took no action against PC Bremnar, who was based in Gairloch, Wester Ross.
A source said: "Neil could not have known what his tenants were up to."
A police spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the fact one of the first properties in which cannabis cultivation was discovered was owned by a police constable.
"This underlines the fact that no landlord or property is immune from being targeted by this type of criminal activity."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/ydlyt7o
The house was one of five raided by police in a bid to stop drug barons building a network of dens.
Yesterday, student Jing Hai Zeng was fined £10,000 for his part in setting up the operation at Evelix, Dornoch.
Zeng was also involved in the cultivation of cannabis at another house in Fearn, Easter Ross.
Tain Sheriff Court was told the 24-year-old was the "fall guy" in a shady Triad operation.
He helped provide equipment for growing cannabis at the two properties over three months last year.
When police raided Corner Cottage at Evalix - owned by PC Neil Bremnar - they discovered an established cannabis farm of 1011 plants, worth £339,696.
No plants were found at the house at Fearn but the property had been adapted for drug production with an irrigation system put in place.
The court was told Zeng, of Knightswood, Glasgow, helped provide equipment for the operations and was responsible for renting out the cottage.
He escaped a prison sentence after Sheriff David Sutherland accepted that his involvement was at the lower end of the scale.
The sheriff fined Zeng, who admitted two charges of being concerned in the cultivation of cannabis, £5000 on each charge.
All five homes targeted in the raid were being leased out by their owners.
Red-faced police chiefs were angry one of their officers was unwittingly connected with the crime but took no action against PC Bremnar, who was based in Gairloch, Wester Ross.
A source said: "Neil could not have known what his tenants were up to."
A police spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the fact one of the first properties in which cannabis cultivation was discovered was owned by a police constable.
"This underlines the fact that no landlord or property is immune from being targeted by this type of criminal activity."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/ydlyt7o
