Man, 70, guilty of dumping body

Kim Van Tran was said to have been involved in growing cannabis

A 70-year-old Vietnamese man has been convicted of dumping a body in a ditch in the hope of keeping the cannabis factory he was running a secret.

Ba Doai Tran was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by helping to dispose of the body of Kim Van Tran near Carmarthen.

Ernest Lewis, 57, of Swansea, was found guilty of conspiring to produce cannabis. Tran had admitted the charge.

Tran and Lewis will be sentenced at Swansea Crown Court next month.

Two other Vietnamese men, who had already admitted their roles in "a sophisticated cannabis operation", will also be sentenced.

Judge Keith Thomas said custodial sentences appeared to be inevitable.

A juvenile from Vietnam, who cannot be named, was found not guilty of conspiring to produce cannabis.

Kim Van Tran is thought to have been involved in the cannabis growing operation and to have been accidentally electrocuted at a house near Porthyrhyd, Carmarthenshire.

Lewis, who owned the house, also risks an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act and an attempt by the police to seize any assets he may have made out the operation.

The body was found in a drainage ditch in Carmarthenshire

Mr Tran's body was found by a council contractor in a drainage ditch near the village of Five Roads in Carmarthenshire on 8 May.

It was wrapped in plastic bags and bound with tape.

The prosecution had said that Kim Van Tran was a "gardener" at the cannabis factory at the Porthyrhyd property.

The court heard that Ba Doai Tran was the main organiser of "a sophisticated conspiracy to produce cannabis on a large commercial scale".

Tran had denied this claiming he was just a driver taking supplies and people between London and Wales.

He had also been asked by his barrister about a sat nav that was found in the car he was driving when he was arrested.

Physically attacked

One of the locations stored in its memory was very close to the site where Kim Van Tran's body was found.

Tran claimed it belonged to the Chinese and Vietnamese people he worked for.

He said he was very afraid of them and claimed they had often physically attacked him.

The jury had previously heard two other Vietnamese men had entered guilty pleas.

One man had admitted perverting the course of justice and cannabis production, while the other had admitted the production of cannabis.