Two men who smuggled cannabis worth £9m from Manchester into Northern Ireland by hiding it in wooden flooring have been jailed.

Chinese nationals Yudong Ouyang, 32, and Gary Hon, 26, from Manchester, cultivated large crops of cannabis and used Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) to transport it by ferry.

The men targeted Northern Ireland as they knew they could charge a premium price, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The flooring was hollowed out to create a void where the pair could hide the drugs before transporting it in pallets.

Hon was arrested by NCA officers in February 2022 and Ouyang was arrested in December 2023.

Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs at Manchester Crown Court.

Hon was sentenced to three years and one month in prison and Ouyang received three years and six months.

The NCA said the men sent messages in Mandarin between June 2019 and February 2020 and discussed cannabis, warehouse rentals and travel to Northern Ireland.

Translations showed one of the men wrote: “I put the [drug] money on me, not in the car, so the sniffing dog could not get the smell.”

NCA investigators found there were up to 38 deliveries from Manchester to Belfast in that nine-month period.

The inner pallets of flooring were hollowed out to create a void where they could hide the drugs before organising shipping to Northern Ireland using a legitimate shipping agent who was unaware of the cannabis.

The NCA said it is believed 50kg of cannabis was moved in each delivery.

Phone evidence also showed Ouyang regularly sent photos of cannabis, cannabis farms or selfies of him at the farms.

His fingerprints and an invoice in his name were found at a cannabis farm raided as part of the operation.

Barry Vinall, NCA operations manager, described the men as “key players” in a large scale cannabis supply operation.

“This organised crime group targeted Northern Ireland as their market where they knew their drugs would attract a premium price,” he said.

“They attempted to make their operations appear legitimate but investigators unravelled their vast communications and movements showing they would often transport pallets back across to England so they could be reused for further importations.”