POT WORKERS CLAIM 'WILFUL BLINDNESS'

Chinese Immigrants Testify They Thought Manitoba Harvest Was Fruits
Or Medicinal Herbs

THREE Chinese immigrants on trial for working on a rural Manitoba pot
farm believed they were harvesting fruits, vegetables or even
"medicinal herbs", a Winnipeg court heard Tuesday.

The men all testified in their own defence and claimed to have no
knowledge they were part of what police say was a multimillion-dollar
grow operation. They have pleaded not guilty, along with two female
co-accused, for their alleged crimes.

Crown attorney Anne Turner questioned their stories during
cross-examination, saying they must have suspected that offers to
make up to $300 a day were "too good to be true."

Quan Yang Liang, 42, told court through a translator he was recruited
by a mystery man in Toronto's Chinatown in the fall of 2005 and
didn't ask many questions.

"I did ask what kind of a job it was on the farm and he told me even
he didn't know what it was," said Liang, who had come to Canada a
decade earlier.

"But once you got to the farm you must have realized it was something
illegal," Turner suggested.

"No," replied Liang. He was told to drive a van filled with fellow
immigrants to Sundown, Man., which is about 140 kilometres east of Winnipeg.

Hui Jin Li, 47, was also in the van and told court Tuesday he figured
they were being asked to work on "Chinese medicine plants" because
the smell was similar to some herbs from back home.

Li said he didn't question the offer to be paid good money under the
table, believing it was fair compensation for the difficult farm labour.

"Working on the farm was very difficult," said Li, who came to Canada
15 years ago and has worked a variety of minimum-wage jobs in restaurants.

Song Dick Chin was the third to testify and admitted he was quite
"confused" by what he saw at the farm.

Chin said he suffered a bad cut on his finger and was unable to work.

"I was very confused. I cut my finger and blood was coming out like a
fountain. I wanted to leave but I couldn't," said Chin.

Defence lawyer Mike Cook opened his case Monday by putting two female
accused -- both single mothers -- on the witness stand in their own defence.

The women told court they also had no idea what they were getting
into. One woman said she wanted some extra money so her son could
afford to buy a computer. She was working in a coffee shop, earning
minimum wage. The other woman was on social assistance.

The five suspects were among 28 people arrested in October 2005
following an extensive undercover RCMP investigation that yielded $19
million worth of pot. They are the first to go on trial.

Police found 25 men and three women sleeping side-by-side,
head-to-toe in every room of a tiny, 700-square-foot house during an
early morning raid last October.

More than 10,000 mature pot plants were thriving in four sprawling
greenhouses sitting on the same rural farm property, which was hidden
from the public by a thick curtain of trees.

Cook said there's no denying the accused were working at a major
criminal enterprise, but that still doesn't mean an automatic
conviction. The Crown has to prove they had both "knowledge and
control" of the marijuana.

Cook said his clients are claiming "wilful blindness" -- which
essentially means they didn't know any better.

Khyong Wong, the alleged mastermind behind the grow operation, has
avoided prosecution by somehow slipping out of Canada while the
subject of an undercover police investigation.

He is being sought on a Canada-wide warrant. His most recent address
was in Burnaby, B.C., but justice sources say he has likely returned
to his native Hong Kong.

Wong, 43, has lived in various provinces including B.C., Manitoba and
Ontario, but would probably not face extradition even if caught
because he is a Chinese national and therefore exempt.