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Ed Andrieski/AP
Drugs
£100,000 worth of cannabis plants seized in Belfast
Police have urged the public and landlords in particular to be vigilant and have issued guidelines on spotting cannabis factories.
POLICE IN BELFAST have seized cannabis plants with an estimated value of around £100,000.
The plants were discovered along with cultivation equipment during the search of a house in Colenso Parade today.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said today that investigations linked to the seizure are ongoing.
Commenting today, Area Commander, Chief Inspector Gabriel Moran, said officers are committed to tackling the issue of drugs.
“Communities regularly voice their concerns about the impact that drugs have on young people and the wider associated anti-social behaviour issues that accompany drug misuse,” he said.
“We are keen to work with communities to remove illegal drugs from circulation.”
Cannabis cultivation is a crime which the community can help the police to defeat. There are serious, potential public safety risks in cannabis cultivation. Most factories illegally abstract large amounts of electricity, sometimes in the crudest and potentially most dangerous ways.
Moran said a house full of electric fans and heaters, combined with water, is an obvious fire risk.
“People who run cannabis factories have been found, in many cases, to tamper with electricity supplies in a very amateurish fashion,” he said. “Put all of these ingredients together and you have a recipe for disaster. There is a potential for; destruction of property; serious injury or even death.”
The PSNI today issued the following guidelines, aimed particularly at landlords:
- The first sure sign is the smell. Cannabis factories often emit a very pungent smell.
- Another sign is abnormal heat penetrating through the walls.
- Noise coming from the equipment in the premises (cooling fans etc.).
- Windows permanently covered from the inside.
- Visits to the premises at unusual times of the day or night.
- Compost bags or gardening equipment left outside, usually in the rear yard or garden.
- Vent protruding through a roof or rear window.
Police, investigating the discovery have appealed to the community to report anything suspicious to them on 0845 600 8000. Alternatively information about crime can be reported anonymously via the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
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