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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Secrets of the house of hashish
Gareth Bethel thisiswiltshire
Wednesday 26 Jul 2006 FROM the outside 12 Okebourne Park looks like any other house on this leafy Swindon suburb. The lawns are tidy, the curtains are closed and there are no signs of anything untoward. But behind the front door is a cannabis factory that was part of a £1m haul. It is believed to be the work of a highly-organised Vietnamese gang. The first thing that hits you is the smell of cannabis. The living room is piled with laundry bags full of ventilation equipment that was used to cultivate the plants. Police say it is not yet clear whether the equipment had just been packed up or was about to be unpacked. It looks as though another downstairs room was used as a sleeping area. It's immediately clear that this is a large-scale operation and upstairs is where the serious business took place. Each of the four spacious bedrooms has been given over to growing 200 cannabis plants. Before you make it on to the landing the smell of the drugs is overpowering. Sophisticated heating lights have been rigged up which can be raised and lowered to simulate the seasons, thereby making the plants grow faster. Police have now removed some of the cannabis plants but when they first raided the Liden house on Saturday the floor space in each room was completely covered with £300,000-worth of drugs. The bathroom is where the plants were prepared to be sold on throughout the town. It is believed that the drugs factory is linked to another one in Haydon Street where £750,000- worth of cannabis was uncovered. Det Insp Ian Saunders says it is the largest drugs haul ever uncovered in Swindon and admitted it was a surprise to find it in this part of town. "There's a national picture emerging of well organised industrial level cannabis production taking place," he said. "I am aware of similar rings being broken in Cardiff recently and the Midlands. "We believe that it's part of an organised crime ring that appears to be spreading all over the country. It's a very well organised set-up with industrial quality and size wiring and lighting systems." The stash was uncovered when police received an anonymous report that someone had been shot or stabbed at the address. When officers arrived at the house on Saturday evening two people tried to run out the back door but were caught and arrested. Thi Song Nguyen, 28, and Thung Minh Pham, 20, appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Monday when they were remanded in custody to appear at Swindon Crown Court on a date to be set. On Sunday a house in Haydon Street was raided, revealing 500 cannabis plants worth £750,000. On Sunday evening officers followed a woman to a car in Rodbourne Road and arrested her and two others. The 27-year-old man and two women, aged 24 and 26, are still being questioned by police after magistrates yesterday granted officers more time. A 32-year-old man is also still in custody after being arrested in Penzance Drive on suspicion possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply on Monday. That day a search was carried out at a property in Padstow Road and yesterday police searched a house in Tavistock Road. Police are analysing forensic links, financial profiles, telecommunications data and collecting witness statements. Det Insp Saunders said that it was possible that more raids and further arrests would happen. http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/display.var.848701.0.secrets_of_the_house_of_hashish.php
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