A major crackdown against suspected indoor cannabis farms and the criminal gangs who run them is under way.
Nineteen police forces across England and Wales are carrying out raids over the next two weeks on addresses where they suspect cannabis is being grown.
The gangs can make £30,000 in three months from a farm of just 200 plants and regard the ventures as relatively low risk but highly lucrative.
In January, the government decided to keep cannabis as a Class C drug.
But on Monday Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: "Those who use and sell cannabis will face tough penalties - up to 14 years for cultivation and dealing."
Officers are searching a suspected cannabis farm at a house in Dagenham, east London.
"A lot of people who grow the cannabis are illegal immigrants"
Det Insp Neil Hutchison
Called to the property following reports of intruders trying to break in, Det Insp Neil Hutchison said there were about 100 plants.
The drug's classification had not affected officers' determination to tackle cannabis cultivation, he added.
And they were shutting about two farms every day in London alone.
The proceeds are used to invest in other crimes, Det Insp Hutchison said, and illegal immigrants are sometimes trafficked illegally to the UK in order to grow the cannabis.
Skunk danger
The farms have started to appear in quiet residential streets, with figures showing that the amount of cannabis grown in the UK has risen from 10%, 10 years ago, to 60% now.
TELLTALE SIGNS
Huge electricity bills for halogen lighting
Pungent smell
Gardening tools left outside
Windows covered all the time
In the UK, the type of drug which is mainly grown is known as skunk, a strong variant of the drug which is potentially harmful.
The gangs who run these farms often steal electricity using wiring set-ups which can carry a risk of causing fires.
Police want to raise awareness on the issue so that the public keep an eye out for the "skunk factories".
As well heavy usage of electricity to power the halogen lighting rigs used in cultivation, other signs of a possible factory are windows that are covered all the time, gardening equipment left outside or a pungent smell coming from the building.
Police are already using thermal imaging cameras to spot the factories, which can be up to 10 times hotter than a normal house because of the heat from the lights.
ok. so now cannabis "factories" are a major threat to the uk....very funny.
i have to puke everytime i see the media connects drugs to criminals/gangs/violence, like that with the illegal immigrants and the stealing of electricity thing. that is really unfair but they do it all the time.
(Just remember the D.A.R.E. slogan: "DARE to resist drugs and violence")
Why the vast increase in cannabis interest by the police, when theres heroin, crack etc out there, not to mention more serious crimes they could be dealing with.
25-09-2006, 13:37
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