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- ITV Report
Police discover Merseyside's largest ever Cannabis farm
The farm was found in an industrial unit containing 2,885 plants, thought to be worth in the region of £10 million.
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Police officer sniffs out £250,000 cannabis farm
Police have found a cannabis farm in a garage in Liverpool, after patrol officers noticed an unusual smell coming from a property.
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- ITV Report
£1.6 million cannabis farm discovered in disused furniture shop
A cannabis factory thought to be worth around £1.6 million has been found in a disused furniture shop in Merseyside.
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Police uncover £3 million cannabis farm in former shop
Police in Lancashire have seized one of their largest drugs finds after raiding a former shop in Fleetwood.
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Police find cannabis farm with estimated street value of £400k
Officers executed a warrant at an address in Rock Ferry and found around 100 cannabis plants. A 40-year-old man was arrested.
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'Ticking time bomb' cannabis factory found in Liverpool
Police have discovered a large cannabis farm in a terraced house in Liverpool, which they say posed a serious fire risk to nearby homes.
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More than 800 cannabis plants seized on Merseyside - police urge public to watch out for tell tale signs
Merseyside Police has recovered 878 plants at a cannabis farm in King Street, Wallasey following the execution of a warrant today The plants were growing in four rooms and were recovered alongside growing equipment.
Every cannabis farm seized, especially a large farm such as this, marks a significant step in our efforts to disrupt the activities of criminals growing cannabis in Merseyside.
"Cannabis cultivation by criminal gangs brings misery to our communities as we know criminal groups involved in the cultivation of cannabis are usually involved in other serious and often violent organised crime.
"This cannabis farm was on a busy street of shops and flats and the growing of cannabis threatens the safety of neighbouring properties because cannabis farms are a serious fire risk. Electricity and water are never a good combination, and fires have been caused by the crude systems put in place by the people who set up these farms.
"Our communities can help us stop these groups, who are only interested in making money, from turning houses and flats into potential death traps. Nobody wants to live next door to these houses and we would ask that if you believe someone is using a property for this purpose, please tell us so we can take positive action and find those responsible for setting them up."
Some of the signs that cannabis is being grown are:
- Strange smell and sounds
- Frequent and varied visitors to a property, often at unusual times
- Gardening equipment being taken into a property
- Watch out for plant pots, fertiliser, fans and industrial lighting
- Windows sealed and covered.
- Curtains are permanently closed
- Heat from an adjoining property
- Birds gathering on a roof in cold weather
- Individually these activities may seem commonplace
- Together they may indicate something more sinister
A quantity of dried cannabis in bags was also found at the scene and the electricity was found to have been illegally bypassed.
The scene was secured to enable officers to recover the cannabis and forensically examine the scene.
Behind the scenes look at specialist cannabis team
Merseyside is home to one of the UK's only specialist units trained specifically to dismantle cannabis farms.
Granada Reports has been given exclusive access to the team, which last year seized cannabis with a street value of £25million and bust one farm a day on average.
Matthew Brown is part of Merseyside Police's Cannabis Dismantling team.
Watch Granada Reports at 6pm to see more on this story.
- ITV Report
£3m cannabis farm found in Liverpool
A cannabis farm capable of producing £3m worth of the drug per year has been found by police in Liverpool.
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School tells parents to stop smoking cannabis at gates
A primary school has written to parents threatening police action after some parents were spotted smoking cannabis at the school gates.
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