A man in charge of three commercial cannabis plantations with a street value of an estimated $24 million a year has been found guilty.

Oai Duc Truong was described throughout the trial by the Crown as an astute businessman and savvy operator who knew exactly what was going on behind the scenes.

It took the jury in the Whangārei District Court less than three hours yesterday to return guilty verdicts on three charges of possession of cannabis for supply, three of cultivating cannabis and one of perverting the course of justice.

Truong was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Judge John McDonald at a later date.

Over the last two weeks, a jury heard evidence in the Whangārei District Court of three commercial grow sites that were discovered by police in 2020 in Te Kōpuru, Kerikeri and Massey.

Police flew into the Te Kōpuru site in January 2020 and seized more than 6000 cannabis plants and 1000 pounds of cannabis as four men fled the scene in a black four-wheel-drive.

Those four men were eventually caught and brought before the courts for their role in the operation. They were Minh Nhat Nguyen, 24 and Nhat Quan Nguyen, 20, 44-year-old Chu Trong Thanh and 45-year-old Dang Gia Cu.

They pleaded guilty in 2021 and were sentenced by Judge Greg Davis to two years and nine months imprisonment and face deportation to Vietnam upon their release.

Truong maintained throughout his trial he did not know who was in charge of the operation and was merely helping two men named David and Lee pick up gardening supplies, help with translation, and hire rental cars.

He claimed he had no idea what the unknown men were up to and thought they were growing blueberries.

David and Lee were never called to give evidence and could not be located by either the defence or the Crown.

Unfortunately for Truong, the Crown proved otherwise with his name in a paper trail all over property leases, car rentals, invoices and supplier accounts connecting him to the three sites.

Multiple police officers gave evidence during the trial of the sophisticated growing operation that was using advanced light manipulation techniques, power diversion, a mother plant to pull cuttings from and a reticulated water pump system.

It was unsure how long the site had been in operation but the varying maturity levels of the plants found indicated it was a year-round operation that had been in place for some time.

When Truong discovered the police were onto him, he attempted to convince a horticulture supplier he was buying products from to write a letter for him in an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

His wife and an unknown friend would also approach the same witness the next day and pressure him for the letter.

Truong would also sneak a phone into police cells when he was taken into custody. It was later found smashed in the toilet and he claimed it was his children’s phone and he threw it because he was angry at the situation he was in.

In under three hours, the jury returned guilty verdicts for three charges of cannabis for supply, three charges of cultivating cannabis and one charge of perverting the course of justice.

Truong was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Judge John McDonald at a later date.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngātiwai/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked freelance in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.