From EDP!
Police target large-scale drug works
MARK NICHOLLS
26 September 2006 06:45
Illegal cannabis factories in Norfolk are being targeted as part of a national police crackdown on production of the drug.
Launched yesterday, the operation involves 19 police forces in England and Wales including Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and is expected to last two weeks.
Under the operation, cannabis factories will be traced and closed down by police and the criminal networks which run them disrupted and dismantled.
Norfolk police say that over the past two years cannabis factories have been targeted by Metropolitan police officers with the result that criminals have moved out of the capital to establish them in regional centres.
Det Insp Tony Deacon, who is leading the operation in Norfolk, said: “After the Metropolitan police began an enforcement campaign on these cannabis factories they have dissipated away from the London area into the eastern region. That is the picture we have seen emerging over the past few months.”
Det Insp Deacon said that criminals had been moving into places such as Norwich, paying over the odds to rent a property and setting up a cannabis factory.
Officers are now looking for public help in identifying these premises and also seeking to work with letting agents on the issue.
If undetected, cannabis factories can run for around 12 months. In this time, they have a potential to make about £250,000 from the production of cannabis.
The signs people should look out for that may indicate a cannabis factory is operating in a property are: curtains constantly closed; a lot of noise when someone moves into a property, but afterwards no one seems to be living there; a strange smell; paper put up inside the windows; excess heat; condensation on the windows or even the brickwork of the house.
Despite the campaign launch yesterday, Norfolk police have already raided some properties, in King’s Lynn and most recently in St Martins Road, Norwich, where they found 400 plants and a sophisticated operation to produce and supply the Class C drug.
And earlier this month at Norwich Crown Court Paul Clarke and Sandra Clarke were jailed for 26 weeks after buying a £100,000 home on a buy-to-let mortgage in Wortham Close, Norwich, and turning it into a cannabis factory. Sandra Clarke’s sentence was suspended.
The drive to close the cannabis factories will continue after the two-week campaign to raise the profile of the issue and the force is distributing posters and postcards across the county with advice and warning signs to look out for.
The factories are dangerous because they generate a large amount of heat and to evade being found out the electricity is usually bypassed causing a significant fire risk.
Det Insp Deacon continued: “The problem of cannabis factories isn’t unique to Norfolk, but if these factories can be detected the production of cannabis can be reduced and profits taken away from organised crime networks.
“There’s been a big rise in the cultivation of cannabis across the UK and your information could be crucial in putting a cannabis factory or drug dealer out of business.”
The crackdown is targeting the most potent form of cannabis, known as “skunk”, which contains far higher quantities of the chemical THC than herbal or resin-based cannabis.
A crop of 200 plants could produce as much as £30,000 of skunk every three months, meaning the larger factories are capable of producing nearly £500,000 of the drug every year.
Anyone with information should contact Norfolk police on 0845 456 4567 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
I have heard of alot of people being busted recently, i think they are on to something!
