Man arrested for growing over 300 cannabis plants months after prison release

Hai Phong City police announced they arrested Do Xuan Hieu, 34, in early May.

Police discovered the cannabis plants, approximately five months old, being grown in plastic pots and foam boxes on the second floor of his residence in Hong Bang District.

In addition to natural sunlight, Hieu had installed an automatic lighting system to help cultivate the plants.

Do Xuan Hieu (L) and his accomplices when busted by the police along with the cannabis plants in his house in Hai Phong City, May 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tan

According to police, Hieu is a graduate of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, but he later became unemployed and developed a drug addiction.

In 2018, he was caught growing 859 cannabis plants. At that time, Hieu admitted to mixing soil with rice husks and animal manure to germinate seeds. After ten days, he transferred the sprouted plants to plastic containers under 18 hours of light per day. After 30 days, the plants were moved to a garden and left for around 80 days before harvest.

The flowers and leaves were dried and stored in glass jars, while the stems and roots were discarded. He also used a rice cooker to heat the cannabis resin and extract concentrate.

In September 2018, Hieu was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for producing illegal drugs.

Cannabis is on the list of narcotics forbidden in Vietnam.

Those growing cannabis in small scale could be fined VND2-5 million ($86.16-215.40). Farmers found cultivating 500 to 3,000 plants could face jail terms of six months to three years, and those working on bigger scales could receive up to seven years in jail.