29/09/2007 00:00:00
UK: Drugs seized in house raid (Desborough)
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POLICE have seized cannabis worth up to £100,000 in another major drugs
raid.
The raid at a house in Desborough is the latest in a series of
successful operations this year, and means cannabis plants with a street
value of £800,000 have been seized in North Northamptonshire since February.
Police acting on a tip-off swooped on a four-bedroom house in Mulberry
Road on the Grange estate in Desborough, and recovered 355 plants and
120 seedlings with a street value of between £60,000 and £100,000.
Five rooms in the house had been turned over for cannabis cultivation
and a 24-year-old Chinese man was arrested and taken to Corby Police
Station for questioning.
Tony Hopkins from the Rural East and West Safer Community Team was
involved in yesterday afternoon's raid.
He said: "This was a big find in terms of the fact that the whole house
had been converted to grow cannabis. We take drug supply and dealing
very seriously and we act with all powers to detect and investigate such
offences.
"We would urge any members of the public who believe a house like this
may be in their vicinity to contact us.
"All sources will be treated with confidentiality."
This latest raid follows five Chinese illegal immigrants each being
jailed for 18 months after thousands of cannabis plants were discovered
during raids on houses in St Mary's Road, Kettering; East Carlton Park,
East Carlton; Fox Street, Rothwell; The Hill, Middleton and Manor Court,
Cottingham.
Earlier seizures in the year include 200 plants taken from a house in
Eastfield Road in Wellingborough in February, and a further 140 plans
seized in Glenback, Wellingborough, during a raid in March.
More than 300 cannabis plants and numerous chemicals, thought to be
linked to the growing of the plants, were found at a property in
Dalkeith Road, Wellingborough, in May.
And last monthAUG, 400 plants were found by police at a house in
Coronation Avenue in Rushden, which followed two raids in Windmill
Avenue and Rutland Street in Kettering earlier that month.
More than 700 plants were seized in the two raids.
Commenting on the latest haul of drugs, one resident living in the
street said she was not surprised at what had been uncovered.
Sasha Bhalla said: "We have seen the police coming and going from the
house on a number of occasions.
"The curtains were always shut and we thought something 'iffy' was going on.
"It was a bit worrying at first - the thought of this going on a few
doors away when I've got children here.
"We moved from London to get away from things like this."
http://www.northantset.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12871
Author:
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph via UKCIA
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