20/01/2008 00:00:00
UK: Police Shut Factory for Cannabis
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Police have closed down a cannabis factory in a city side-street.
Officers seized about 80 mature plants from the house in Vaughan Street,
off Tudor Road, in Leicester's West End yesterday.
Police discovered the factory in the two-bedroom terraced house when
they were called to a report of suspicious activity at the property.
No arrests were made at the scene following the morning raid and a
police investigation is under way.
Insp Bill Knopp, commander of Hinckley Road police station, appealed for
information about the "modest" cultivation operation.
He said: "There were 80 plants in there which makes it modest-sized
production, but these places are a fire risk - that is always our main
concern. A lot of the factories we have discovered have come to light
because there have been fires there.
"We are appealing to residents who might have noticed any suspicious
activity around this address to contact us.
"We're also urging the wider community to be aware that this is a
prevalent problem, particularly in rented properties."
Cannabis factories are a fire risk because of the high-powered lighting
and because criminal gangs carry out haphazard rewiring of the
electrical supplies to generate the power they need.
One resident said: "Everyone knows they're dangerous."
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13179
Author:
Leicester Mercury via UKCIA
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