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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Police spend £500,000 on busting drugs factories this year Mark Cowan Birmingham Mail Monday 08 Jun 2009 The number of drugs factories has almost quadrupled in the past four years. And the number being discovered hidden away in quiet residential streets and business premises under the noses of unsuspecting neighbours is showing no sign of letting up. West Midlands Police said they had spent £500,000 in the past six months on targeting and dismantling cannabis factories, including sites in Longbridge, Handsworth, Erdington and Solihull. Among the recent successes was a raid on a cannabis factory above the Hampton Pub in Great Hampton Row, Hockley, where 500 plants were found in two tiny attic rooms in April. Two months ago, police responding to reports of a burglary in leafy Warwick Road, in Solihull, found a drugs factory with a substantial number of plants. A decade ago the majority of cannabis recovered in the UK was usually imported from countries such as Morocco or Lebanon. It is estimated more than three quarters of the drug is now believed to be homegrown. Organised crime gangs from south east Asia are thought to be behind part of the rapid growth in drugs farms across the country, turning home-grown production from a cottage industry into a multi-million pound crime business. However, drug workers believe homegrown drugs have become more potent and concern has been expressed over the potential mental health impact on users. A total of 174 cannabis factories were found in 2004 but this rocketed to 672 - almost two a day - by the end of last year. West Midlands Police has liaised closely with colleagues in Northern Ireland who have had great success in tackling the cannabis farms. Det Insp Paul Etchells, from the force’s Intelligence Bureau, recently praised the public for helping to tackle the problem. He said: “A lot of the success we have had has been due to the vigilance of the public. “We rely a lot on the very strong links within the communities we serve to give us information to act on. “We’re trying to get straight to the people who are running these organised groups, but to get there we need every little piece of information we can get.” http://www.birminghammail.net
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