19/04/2007 16:00:00
UK: Cannabis farm is smashed
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A SOPHISTICATED cannabis farm has been discovered in the loft of a house.
Police who raided the house smashed up the growing equipment with a
hammer to prevent it being used again.
The farm was discovered in Hill Lane, Blackrod, early yesterday. when
officers raided the property. They found lamps, heating equipment and a
watering system.
Up to 50 plants at a time could be grown there and officers believe that
a crop of "skunk" cannabis plants worth thousands of pounds had recently
been harvested.
PC Keith Seal, who was involved in the operation, said: "This raid was
carried out based on the strength of intelligence that we gathered.
"Inside we found quite a sophisticated hydroponic set-up designed to
grow cannabis plants.
Skunk cannabis has risen to notoriety in the last few months amid claims
it is 30 times stronger than in the late 1960s and can lead to mental
illness and schizophrenia. It is among the most expensive of cannabis
variants and can command prices of up to £140 per ounce.
The drugs farm is the second to be discovered in Bolton in the last six
weeks. About 400 plants were found in two houses in Bromley Cross early
last month.
A sophisticated growing system including lights, fans and heaters had
been set up to nurture the plants. The landlord of the two rented houses
discovered the plants when he was investigating an electrical fault.
And police seized up to 10,000 cannabis plants from a house in
Whitefield earlier this month after being alerted to a possible
burglary. It was the second find in the area in less than a week.
Firefighters called to a blaze at a property in Nelson Street, Bury,
found 250 cannabis plants and 200 heat lamps.
The charity DrugScope estimates that three similar factories are being
raided every day by police in Britain as the amount of cannabis grown in
the country continues to soar.
# A 30-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl were arrested at the house
and are being questioned on suspicion of cultivating cannabis.
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/
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Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12462
Author:
This is Lancashire via UKCIA
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