Cannabis plants worth £115,000 seized by police

A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis

Police discovered a cannabis farm at a property in Smith Street in Newark.png (Nottinghamshire Police)

A cannabis farm worth £115,000 has been seized by police.

Nottinghamshire Police raided the illegal drug factory on Wednesday, 12 October after members of the public shared concerns with the police.

During the raid officers also found dangerously by-passed electrics at the mid-terraced house in Smith Street, Newark.

Officers also found 115 plants across three upstairs bedrooms. Each plant found was worth an estimated £1,000, giving the haul a street value of £115,000.

A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis and abstracting electricity. He has since been released under investigation.

After officers discovered the plants, the cannabis dismantling team were called in to take down the set up and destroy the plants.

PC Richard Hodgman, of the Newark and Sherwood Operation Reacher team, said: “I hope this successful warrant shows the public that we are listening to what they are telling us and treating these reports seriously.

“It’s great that the community is coming forward to help us tackle issues, in addition to our proactive work to combat crime, and we will continue to treat the information we receive in the strictest confidence.

“The production and distribution of drugs have a negative impact on communities and can often be linked to other serious offences. In addition to this, the electricity had been bypassed at the property we went to which is very dangerous.

“We remain as committed as ever to taking illegal drugs off our streets, and my message to anyone involved in drug dealing is very clear: we’re watching you and it could be you next.”

It comes after a man and woman were jailed for trying to smuggle cocaine with a street value of £1.75 million in holdalls into the UK via Heathrow airport.

Michael Williams, 37, and Jessica Waldron, 36, planned to hand over the 22kg haul during a rendezvous near Terminal 2 after arriving from Colombia on 14 December 2019.

Unbeknown to them, Colombian authorities had intercepted the drugs, replaced them with wooden blocks before the plane took off and alerted the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The pair were arrested after being seen entering the airport toilets with two bags and leaving without them after stepping off their flight from Bogota, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Parts of the planned handover had been organised through the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, on which they were instructed to dress in specific clothing and pose as a couple by holding hands on arrival for identification purposes.

Phones belonging to Waldron were seized after she was detained, with one containing a message from 9 November reading: “Hey Jess, it’s D, got something real nice for you and Mike.”

NCA Heathrow operations manager Darren Barr said: “Organised crime groups need couriers like Waldron and Williams for their business model to function.

“Their role is crucial in a chain that starts with the cartels that produce drugs in South America and ends with violent street gangs in UK towns and cities.

“I hope the sentences handed out today make those who would consider getting involved in such an enterprise think again. It simply isn’t worth it.”