Midlands police closing cannabis factories at greater rate
Mar 11 2009 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Post
Police smashed a record number of cannabis factories hidden away in suburban homes across the West Midlands last year.
According to new figures released, 174 cannabis factories were found in the region in 2004 but this rocketed to 672 – or almost two a day – by the end of last year.
In many cases family-style homes had been rented out and transformed into factories under the noses of unsuspecting neighbours.
Properties turned over to production are re-wired to avoid high electricity costs and some have been booby-trapped to keep out the police and rival gangs.
A decade ago the majority of cannabis recovered in the UK was of the resin variety, usually imported from countries such as Morocco or Lebanon but it is estimated that more than three quarters of the drug is now believed to be home-grown.
Organised crime gangs from south east Asia are thought to be behind part of the rapid growth in drugs farms across the country, turning home-grown production from a cottage industry into a multi-million pound crime business.
Hotspots in Birmingham include the areas surrounding Aston, Stechford and Hodge Hill but factories have also been found in upmarket areas of Edgbaston and Sutton Coldfield, a historic pub in Highgate and a warehouse in the Jewellery Quarter.
The problem is thought to have crossed the Atlantic from Canada which saw a similar pattern six or seven years ago. It also coincided with the downgrading of the drug in the UK.
However, drug workers believe home-grown drugs have become more potent and concern has been expressed over the potential mental health impact on users.
West Midlands Police said they were “encouraged” by the public’s help in tackling the problem.
Det Insp Paul Etchells, from the force’s Intelligence Bureau, said: “A lot of the success we have had has been due to the vigilance of the public. But it’s also in the interests of the landlords to check out tenants.”
Senior officers, government officials and other law enforcement agencies met yesterday to discuss a new national strategy to target the factories.
Energy company EDF estimates that it is called to shut power off at more than 500 cannabis factories in the UK every year.
Martin Barnes chief executive of charity DrugScope, said: “It appears that high-level criminal gangs have been attracted by the increased profits to be gained by growing cannabis near the point of sale.
‘‘A priority is to collect better intelligence about the criminal gangs and the links between the cannabis growers and distribution networks.
“Where arrests have occurred, it tends to be people employed or coerced into looking after the plants.
‘‘Sometimes the ‘gardeners’, as they are called, have been illegally trafficked into the UK.”
