A DRUGS gang who grew as much as £1.5million of cannabis in three Ipswich houses are today beginning a total of almost 14 years in jail.Vietnamese nationals Anh Hai Bui, Phuong Thi Vu, Tham Thi Hoang and Tranh Tran were involved in a conspiracy to grow cannabis in London Road, Clarkson Street and North Road.

A DRUGS gang who grew as much as £1.5million of cannabis in three Ipswich houses are today beginning a total of almost 14 years in jail.

Vietnamese nationals Anh Hai Bui, Phuong Thi Vu, Tham Thi Hoang and Tranh Tran were involved in a conspiracy to grow cannabis in London Road, Clarkson Street and North Road.

Anh Hai Bui, 34, denied the charge but was found guilty by an Ipswich Crown Court jury. The other three pleaded guilty.

Hai Bui's heavily pregnant sister Ha Phu Bui was found guilty of making money from crime.

Ha Phu Bui was sentenced to five years, while Hai Bui was jailed for four.

Tranh Tran was sentenced to 18 months, Phuong Thi Vu was sent to prison for 21 months and Tham Thi Hoang was jailed for 18 months.

Sentencing them at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Peter Thompson said: “All of you were involved in to a greater or lesser degree the operation of three houses in Ipswich which you turned into cannabis factories. The electricity supplies in each house were diverted so the electricity was effectively stolen. From the outside the houses looked normal but behind black sheeting there was criminal activity. False lighting was set up at one address to make it look like it had normal lighting from the outside but inside artificial lighting was used so that skunk cannabis could be grown at an unnatural speed for maximum profits.”

Judge Thompson said the maximum profits had been estimated at £1.5 million with an estimated outlay for equipment of just £33,000.

During the two week trial the jury heard how the three houses were transformed into drug factories which could have yielded up to £1.5 million.

The court heard that Ha Phu, 27, had lavishly furnished her home in Ipswich Road, Colchester and she had paid for a £9,000 BMW car in cash.

Ha Phu who ran Hollywood Nail Bar in Tacket Street, Ipswich, paid a £79,000 deposit on her house using money made from selling drugs.

She told the court she paid £190,000 off her £221,250 mortgage in two years.