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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Rooting out cannabis farmers
Cambridge Evening News
Tuesday 26 Sep 2006 CANNABIS factories are being targeted in a major crackdown on organised crime in Cambridgeshire. Detectives from the force's Serious and Organised Crime Squad are launching a two-week blitz against cannabis producers in the county, which will coincide with similar operations by other forces across the country. Det Chief Insp Paul Fullwood, who is leading the crackdown, said the push would consolidate the work already done to battle drug production in Cambridgeshire. Operation Holywell, which has been up and running for two months, has already seen 14 raids, 10 people arrested, and 170kg of cannabis resin with a street value of £435,000 seized in the county. He said: "We are ahead of the game in Cambridgeshire because we have been targeting organised crime groups involved in this sort of activity for some time. "We are talking about large-scale cannabis factories, often on quiet residential streets in the suburbs of cities including Cambridge which are being rented out and the entire properties used for the production of cannabis. "These people use extremely sophisticated heat and lighting equipment and often drill into the mains electricity to power it, which is very dangerous in terms of a fire risk. "They then bring in low-level people to look after the crop, but we know there are vast profits being made by the organised gangs. "A typical factory might have 200 plants which are harvested four times a year, with every harvest bringing in around £30,000 - so the criminal profits generated from one house alone are around £120,000 a year. "We also know these gangs are involved in other crime, such as people trafficking, money laundering, even murder and other violent crime, so it is very important they are not allowed to get away with it. "Our message is we're not targeting people who use cannabis, but we are targeting those at the top and we will not tolerate what these gangs are doing." Det Chief Insp Fullwood also warned cannabis users about the potency of the drugs. He said: "The cannabis has extremely high levels of THC, which is the hallucinogenic content, sometimes as much as six times what has traditionally been found in cannabis. This stuff is not good for you." http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/region_wide/2006/09/26/803c4493-58ca-4156-8b93-c3b0fc181b6f.lpf
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