SCOTLAND EXPORTS MORE CANNABIS THAN IT IMPORTS AS TRIAD FARMS GROW

SCOTLAND has become an exporter of cannabis as Triad gangsters launch
ever more factories.

Secret court papers show there are now greater quantities of the drug
leaving the country than coming in.

Traditionally, most hash bought here has come from countries such as
Holland and Jamaica.

But the shock revelation came to light in legal documents relating to
a Proceeds of Crime case against a convicted thug suspected of being
a Triad gang member.

In the papers against William Wan, a Government lawyer claims: "It is
now well recognised that cannabis is produced in many unlawful
factories situated throughout the Central Belt of Scotland and elsewhere.

"The illegal cultivation of cannabis in Scotland is immensely profitable.

"Cannabis cultivation in Scotland is now established to the extent
that Scotland is believed to be a net exporter of the drug to other
parts of the UK and beyond."

Sheriff Michael Fletcher granted the Crown permission to hold on to
money - UKP1641 and 1000 Hong Kong dollars - found in a car belonging
to Wan and his wife Mo Qi.

Lawyers for the Scottish Government claimed the couple were members
of the 14K Triad gang.

Wan, who is serving two years for assault to injury and permanent
impairment, said he and his wife had low-paid jobs in a takeaway restaurant.

The action stated: "He is believed to be a member of the 14K Triad.

"It is believed they acquired property in Motherwell and serviced the
mortgage payments through their involvement in organised criminality
and through cannabis cultivation and supply."

Cannabis farms in Scotland have flourished. Police busted just 16
sites in 2006 but 89 in 2009 and 48 last year.

Figures from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency show
police have seized UKP41million worth of cannabis plants since 2006
and arrested 319 people.

Cannabis trial expert witness and former policeman Allen Morgan said:
"It is cheaper for the gang bosses to rent commercial or private
property in Glasgow or Edinburgh than it is to try and do the same in
central London."

Chief Superintendent David O'Connor, president of the Association of
Scottish Police Superintendents, said: "The fact that Scotland is now
a net exporter of cannabis is an extremely worrying development.

"Cannabis farms are not a wholly urban phenomenon and we are seeing
more of them in rural areas. These organised crime groups think
globally and policing is now a national and an international matter."

According to Interpol, the biggest cannabis exporters include
Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, India,
Thailand, Morocco and Afghanistan.

A Chinese dope farmer was caught after his flat was flooded.

Firefighters who broke down the door to discover the source of the
leak were stunned to discover UKP51,000 worth of dope plants.

Man Cheung, 47, of Maryhill, Glasgow, admitted running the farm in
Spruce Road, Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, in May 2009.

Cheung was jailed for two years at Airdrie Sheriff Court last week.

Cops find crops worth UKP41m

Police have busted more than 300 cannabis farms in Scotland in the
last five years - seizing 138,453 plants worth approximately
UKP41,535,900 on the streets.

More than half of the farms were in Strathclyde, where 188 farms were
uncovered since 2006. In Lothian, police destroyed 54 farms during
the same period. The figure was 19 in Grampian and 14 in Tayside.

The biggest factory spanned three floors in a quiet street in Ayr and
had more than 3000 high-grade plants.