A MAN who ran a 148 cannabis plant factory in Ebbw Vale has been jailed.

Vietnamese national Kien Vo, 30, was picked up to run the factory at Ebbw Vale railway station, a court heard.

Vo was jailed for one year and one week at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to cannabis production.

He will be deported back to his home country upon his release, the court heard.

Judge Patrick Curran told him: "You will serve half your sentence in custody and will then be transferred to an immigration detention centre for deportation."

Police raided the factory in Pennant Street, Ebbw Vale, after residents smelt cannabis from the property, crown prosecutor Heath Edwards told the court.

Officers discovered the electricity had been bypassed and recovered a total of 148 cannabis plants.

Plants were grown in a bedroom and Vo was found sitting on the stairs of the property, Mr Edwards said.

He declined to address the police on the matter.

But he later said he had been taken to the property by a man he had met at Ebbw Vale station, the court heard.

The court heard that Vo was of Vietnamese origin and was not believed to have lawfully entered the country.

His role had been to tend the cannabis plants, the court was told, and he admitted producing a class B drug at Caerphilly Magistrates’ Court on July 8.

James Evans, for the defence, said his client had pleaded guilty to the charge at the first opportunity.