Oai Duc Truong took the stand and gave evidence in his trial for cannabis cultivation. Photo / Shannon Pitman
Oai Duc Truong took the stand and gave evidence in his trial for cannabis cultivation. Photo / Shannon Pitman
A man who was allegedly involved in three large cannabis grow sites says he did not know anything about the multimillion-dollar operation and was working as a delivery man and translator for two men he claims, are on the run.
In week two of the trial against Oai Duc Truong, also known as Andy, Ally and Dac, for three charges of cultivation of cannabis and three charges of cannabis for supply at three sites in Dargaville, Kerikeri and Massey, Truong chose to give evidence as his defence case opened.
The Vietnamese man said he owned a company called YesGrow, selling hydroponic gardening supplies and would often do work for two men named “David” and “Lee” who would ask him to do deliveries or translate for them.
A trail of invoices with large sums of gardening supplies from Placemakers, Bunnings and Primehort have been produced throughout the trial with Truong’s name and phone number printed on them.
In explanation, Truong said he never made any of the orders, and his name and number were put there by “Lee” so he could be alerted when to collect the items.
The plants seized ranged in size from seedlings through to mature plants about 2.5m tall. Photo / NZ Police
Judge John McDonald asked defence lawyer David Reece whether he intended to call “Lee” to give evidence.
“I’m not calling Lee. I can’t find him,” Reece said.
Under cross-examination by Crown lawyer Ally Tupuola, Truong had to be warned multiple times to stick to answering the question as he frequently veered off track.
Tupuola asked who brought the items on his Bunnings account, including an exclusive irrigation pump that was found at the Dargaville grow site.
Truong responded it wasn’t him and someone must have used his account.
“Is it just a coincidence these items turned up at the grow site”? Judge McDonald interjected.
“Yes,” Truong answered.
Tupuola continued to press for information on the identities of “David” and “Lee” however Truong was unable to give any relevant evidence of the two men.
“This David, you said he’s the one that told you to go pick up the order, is he your boss? Where is your boss?” Tupuola asked.
“He disappeared. On the run maybe,” Truong said
“Is that the same with Lee? Disappeared? On the run?” asked Tupuola.
“Yeah,” said Truong.
When asked why he had over $26,000 on him when he was arrested Truong said he was given $20,000 from his parents who recently visited from Vietnam and the rest was made from his business.
Detective Sergeant Shawn Parker previously gave evidence when Truong was brought in for questioning, he managed to get a cell phone into the custody suite later found smashed in the toilet.
“When he was initially searched, he didn’t have the phone on him, but there was an interaction with his wife and he’s ended up with a phone in his pocket,” Parker said.
Truong was questioned by Tupuola about how a phone came to be smashed in the toilet at the police cells.
“It was a broken phone I used to use and play with my kids. Actually, I just tried to throw it away because when the thing happened, the police made my daughter scared and made me stress out and I don’t know why they took me to the police station.
“It made me angry, I just wanted to break something or throw something away,” Truong said.
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.
