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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Hit squad roots out dope farms
Craig Thompson Sunderland Echo
Tuesday 13 Mar 2007 Cannabis users causing power surges as they fuel their illegal farms are being sniffed out by a hit squad. As concerns grow about the number of cannabis farms discovered in houses across Sunderland, a team of British Gas officers is helping root out the problem. The specialist staff are keeping an eye open for surges of electricity and unusual power consumption which could suggest the illegal drug is being farmed. Police last year seized 240 cannabis plants after raids at properties across the city. A spokesman for British Gas said: "It takes a massive amount of electricity to power these type of farms – up to £3,000 a year just for a couple of hundred plants. "That amount of power for one house is immediately going to raise suspicions. "Often criminals try to get around this problem by bypassing the supply altogether, by fiddling their electricity. This is, of course, not just a crime but incredibly dangerous. "So if a house appears to be using no electricity, again suspicions are raised and the team investigates." Police recoveries in Sunderland last year included 44 plants, each thought to be worth £1,000, found in the loft of the New Tavern pub at Concord, Washington. British Gas says its team of investigators passes on any evidence it gathers to police. Drug information charity DrugScope said an average of three cannabis farms have been raided each day in the last six months. The charity said more than 60 per cent of cannabis sold in the country was grown here compared with only 11 per cent just 10 years ago. Analysis of police raids revealed up to three quarters of cannabis farms were run by Vietnamese criminal gangs. In the last year Vietnamese-run cannabis farms have been found in the North East, as well as London, south Wales, Birmingham, East Anglia and Yorkshire. What do you think of the hit squad's success? Let us know at echo.letters@northeast-press.co.uk -- LCA on Myspace; http://www.myspace.com/cannabis_people_uk
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