http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/09/11/4487132-sun.html
Two Asian immigrants lured to a remote Manitoba community for "farm work" had no idea they were harvesting marijuana, a court was told yesterday.
"She was very surprised because she didn't know she was working that kind of job," said an interpreter speaking for Huan Qui Zhang.
Zhang, 52, is one of 28 Asian immigrants arrested in October 2005 after RCMP seized nearly $20 million worth of weed from a farm near Sundown, a small southeastern Manitoba community near the Canada-U.S. border. All but one of the suspects had been living in Toronto prior to their arrest at the farm.
Zhang and four other suspects are now on trial charged with production of marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking. Their lawyer Mike Cook is arguing they are innocent of the charges because they did not know they were doing anything illegal.
Zhang, who was living on welfare in Toronto prior to her arrest, said she was approached by "a friend" and offered $100 a day to work at a Manitoba farm. She said she didn't know what kind of work she would be doing but accepted the job, hoping to earn enough money to buy her son a computer.
Zhang was driven to the farm with six or seven other recruits and was put to work harvesting marijuana.
Police raided the property Oct. 7 and found the 28 workers sleeping in a small farmhouse. They also found four massive greenhouses containing $10.5 million worth of marijuana plants and 2,700 pounds of harvested bud.
Another accused, Van Duc Du said the immigrants worked from "sunrise to sunset" with their remaining hours spent eating, showering and sleeping.
"When I got there, I just imitated what other people were doing," said Du. "We pull off all the leaves, then we throw the plant away and cut the flower off."
Zhang and Du said they had been working just eight or nine days before they were arrested. They weren't paid a cent.
Du said she only learned what she had been doing was illegal when a police interpreter told her so.
Last January co-accused Fai Ng, 47, pleaded guilty to one charge of marijuana production and was sentenced to one day time served. In June 2006, 31-year-old Keung Kwok Leung was sentenced to 18 months time served.
Leung, an illegal immigrant, was denied bail following his arrest and remained in jail until his sentencing. He was later deported to Hong Kong.
The alleged mastermind behind the operation, Kyhong Wong, is believed to be living in Southeast Asia.
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