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Police swoop on cannabis farm death trap
Date published: 23 July 2010
POLICE were faced with a death trap when they seized cannabis plants worth £250,000 after swooping on a house in Werneth yesterday.
One of the heat lamps used to grow almost 500 plants was wired straight into the 240-volt mains.
And Sgt Rob Howarth said: “It was a deliberate booby trap to kill. Anyone touching it would have got a massive shock.
“This is the second one we have found — there was one at the Spinner’s Tavern, Lees Road, some time ago — and we’re aware that the cannabis growers are now using booby traps either to stop someone else stealing it or to stop the police.
The house, at 148 Manchester Road, appeared empty from the outside, but was home to a cannabis farm covering three storeys and the cellar. The people growing the plants, which were due to be harvested, had smashed through a wall in the cellar to one in an empty adjoining house to grow more plants. Sgt Howarth said the suspicion was that the culprits were in the process of expanding to fill the two houses.
“The plants have an estimated street value of £500,000, which would have ended up on the streets,” he said.
“We have been able to take a massive amount of drugs off the streets of Oldham, particularly in Werneth, with this operation.”
Residents and police have been concerned about the level of drug dealing on the streets of Werneth for some time, and Sgt Howarth, of the priority neighbourhood policing team, said yesterday’s haul was a good result.
He said: “We have some lines of inquiry but have not made any arrests yet.
“There is evidence that someone had been sleeping in the house near the dining room area, and we believe they are of oriental origin.”
The called in Ian Whitead, an inspector from Electricity North West, part of United Utilities emergency service, to inspect the house and he found the booby trapped lamp as he searched with a police officer.
“There was so much power going through it was melting the wires,” said Sgt Howarth. “Around £10,000 worth of electricity had been illegally abstracted.”
Anyone who has any information or can help identify the people involved in the cannabis farm, should contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555 111.
The number can also be used to give police information about any other cannabis-growing operation.
Comments
cannabis farm in werneth again and the people who done this have played clever there may have made millions of pounds already.
I find it incomprehensible that an operation of this size has gone on under the radar of the public or are they just turning a blind eye or just frightened.
How come the electric companies aren't aware of large amounts of their juice vanishing? Surely in this day and age they have the technology to spot this? And do the police (and a recent "home survey" van) have technology to spot large amounts of heat escaping from a house, couple this with information on empty properties??
If these houses were empty why was electricity still being supplied to them.
Who ultimately pays for the electricity that has been used for these cannabis farms? By the sounds of things the whole building could have set on fire. Well done the Police.
It may come as a shock to some of you, but they by-pass the meter in a lot of these and take the power straight from the main. That's why the electric companies do not notice the huge usage - it isn't metered.
All that's needed is a by-law making it illegal to block-out or screen any windows on a vacant house.
The 'hopme survey van' is a cracking idea.
Have Your Say
a great result, but very clever in setting up booby traps, but how far will they go to stop cannabis in werneth or oldham? cannabis will be sold from every corner of werneth and oldham, cannabis will live on the streets of oldham forever. no wonder oldham is a dump!
By j4v3d @ 23/07/2010 12:17:51