Two Vietnamese cannabis farmers who were found living in "squalid conditions" in County Durham have been jailed.
Muoy Van Tram, 28, and Nam Dan Nguin, 23, were arrested on June 7, last year, after being found at a "large cannabis farm" that had an estimated yield of up to £240,000.
Durham Crown Court heard the pair were "trafficked" into the UK and were "victims of modern slavery", but have now been put behind bars and may be deported.
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Joe Hedworth, prosecuting, said there was a "commercial volume of plants involved" and that both men had a "significant role" in the operation as they had an expectation of "significant financial gain" and an "awareness of the scale of the operation".
Both men appeared at the court on Friday to be sentenced for producing cannabis.
The court heard there were 330 plants at "various stages of growth" in the Stanley farm.
Helen Towers, defending Tram, said he had a "lesser role" in the operation, and "performed a limited function under direction".
She said there was no evidence of any awareness of the scale of the operation and said he was living in "squalid conditions" where the farm was located for 10 days and that it was an "isolated incident".
Ms Towers said Tram was "found to be a slave", had no previous convictions and that his "vulnerability was exploited".
She added he played no role in setting up the cannabis farm and was "not responsible for the turnover".
She said in the last five years he had been "trafficked out of Vietnam and across Europe".
The court was told that Tram had "£40 to his name" and had only been in the UK a month before his arrest.
Jamie Adams, defending Nguin, said both men were "victims of modern slavery" and said he was "watering and looking after the plants".
"He was clearly under the direction and control of others, he had no influence upon anyone else", he added.
Sentencing the men, Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said they were employed to "grow the crop and harvest it" and that it was a "very significant and highly sophisticated farm".
He said the pair "must have been aware" of the scale of the operation and must have been "motivated by some reward", likely a "reduction of a debt" they both spoke of.
The judge said there had been 195 cannabis cultivations "disrupted" in County Durham last year, and that growing cannabis in the region was "clearly big business".
Nguin was jailed for 27 months and Tram was jailed for 18 months.
Both men, of no fixed address, also face the possibility of being deported from the UK.
