£75,000 worth of cannabis found in drugs factory raid

8:53am Friday 4th April 2008

• Play Video

AROUND £75,000 worth of drugs was discovered as police officers swooped on a makeshift cannabis factory in Southampton.

A team of plain-clothes officers burst through the back door of the house in Thornhill. They found around 500 mature cannabis plants in four rooms including the loft.

The raid was the latest of a string of busts on cannabis factories in the city.

More than 60 cannabis "factories" have been uncovered in Southampton alone in the last 18 months.

Detective Superintendent Paul Morton, who led the raid, said: "We received a tip off from a member of the public that a house in a residential area in Thornhill was being used as a cannabis factory.

"We did our research and after obtaining a warrant we carried out a raid on the house.

"We found about 500 mature cannabis plants under 67 lights, plus more plants in seed form.

"The value is reckoned to be about £75,000 on the street."

A team of officers gathered outside the terraced house in Marston Road, a quiet residential area of Thornhill, before bursting in through the rear door.

The house was then secured while officers from the electricity board cut off the electricity supply.

Forensic teams scoured the house yesterday afternoon before officers began removing the cannabis plants.

Det Supt Morton said the raid, which came as it was reported that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said cannabis should remain a class C drug, had been a success.

He said: "We have reduced the number of cannabis factories in Southampton significantly.

"We're slowly driving them out of the city.

"This is a different kind of premises to those usually favoured by cannabis growers.

"Before it was multi-occupancy homes such as student accommodation that has lots of rooms. We discovered more than 60 of those type of cannabis factory.

"Now it seems the growers are moving into more residential premises which are less obvious. They're changing their tactics but we're chasing them."

No arrests were made at the house but Det SuptMorton said documents had been found and results from forensic tests would provide more clues.