TWO men and a woman were found in a former pub with 338 cannabis plants with a potential street value of £223,000.

Chinese nationals Jarlou Chan, Xing Chen and Yin Chen were arrested at the New Griffin Hotel on Beaufort Street in Brynmawr.

All three entered the UK illegally and had been put to work at the cannabis factory by “evil and greedy” criminals, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Nigel Fryer, prosecuting, said: “Police executed a search warrant back on September 22 last year following public concerns about activity in the building.

MORE NEWS: Man accused of dealing nearly 4kg of cocaine

“As is often the case it was a derelict property and this time it was a former public house.

South Wales Argus: The drugs found by Gwent Police

“Initial investigations didn't reveal anything when they gained access to the ground floor because they found it empty, but it was apparent that modifications had been made to a side door which appeared to lead to the upper floors of premises.”

A steel barrier prevented access to one part of the building but officers got through it and found the three defendants in the loft.

South Wales Argus: Yin Chen

It has been converted into a cannabis factory with the 338 plants capable of producing a yield with a street value of just over £223,000.

The defendants all pleaded guilty at various stages to producing cannabis.

Tom Roberts for Chan, 54, said his client was an asylum seeker.

South Wales Argus: Xing Chen

His barrister told the court: “He has a father, wife and two children in China. His father is 93.

“The defendant has seen his family since 2018.

“He was vulnerable and taken advantage of.”

Jeffrey Jones for Xing Chen, 52, told the court his client had already served the equivalent of a 12-month prison sentence after being remanded in custody.

South Wales Argus: Jarlou Chan

Sol Hartley for Yin Chen, 49, said: “The real punishment for her is going to be deportation.”

Judge Simon Mills told the defendants: “Operations like this produce commercial amounts of cannabis that is sold on behalf of evil and greedy people.

“You're not those evil and greedy people, you're the people who work for pathetically small amounts of money.

“It was inevitable that you'd all be caught one day because it's almost impossible to conceal a cannabis farm like this indefinitely.”

Chan was jailed for 70 weeks, Xing Chen for 58 weeks and Yin Chen for 12 months.