One-stop drugs-shop pair jailed
Reporter: RICHARD HOOTON
Date published: 02 September 2011
£1.5m ‘garden centre’
THE masterminds who operated Oldham’s biggest ever cannabis farm as a garden centre for drug dealers have been jailed.
Stephen Cotton and John Bilal were caught when two police officers stumbled across the astonishing operation of 3,390 plants with a street value of up to £1.5million.
The pair effectively ran a cannabis one-stop shop, cultivating the drugs and then selling them on to drug dealers, who could set up their own cannabis farms and distribute them on the streets.
Cotton (43), of Penryn Avenue, Royton, pleaded guilty to three counts of production of cannabis, three counts of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and three counts of abstracting electricity, three counts of possession of cannabis.
He was also charged with one count of possession of cocaine at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday.
Bilal (48), of Windermere Road, Middleton, pleaded guilty to the same charges. They were each jailed for 21 months.
Two officers from the Operational Support Unit were on Rochdale Road, Royton, on April 8 when they saw Cotton and Bilal standing in the doorway of a house and noticed a strong smell of cannabis.
They were arrested and the house searched with a tall cannabis plant and numerous plastic tubs containing smaller plants found in the bathroom.
A large tent lined in silver with lighting and heating was discovered in the front bedroom.
In the back bedroom there were a large number of tall cannabis plants, individually labelled “Marley”, “Blueberry”, “Cheese”, “Widow” and “Bubble” with lighting suspended from the ceiling. A total of 2,492 plants were recovered.
Their homes were searched and police recovered a further 898 cannabis plants.
PC Phil Shaw said: “This was an incredible result, not just for police but more importantly for the communities who otherwise could have found themselves swamped by these drugs.
“This was an unusual case because Cotton and Bilal admitted their guilt on the basis that they effectively ran a garden centre — cultivating the drugs for others who wanted to set up their own cannabis farms.
“This pair had quite a professional set-up, with a number of different strands of cannabis being grown, including one called ‘Blueberry’, which is not something we have seen in the Oldham area before and is not widely available in the UK.
“It was undoubtedly one of the biggest farms we’ve ever discovered. Credit must also go to the officers on patrol who immediately realised Cotton and Bilal were acting suspiciously, and their prompt action resulted in the discovery of this huge criminal enterprise.
“To seize so much cannabis means we effectively disrupted up to £1.5million worth of drugs heading for the streets, which could have caused serious damage. Sadly, drug addiction leads to other crimes such as burglary and robbery, as addicts to try to fund their addiction, and people like this gang serve only to propagate this cycle of misery.
“We will always act on information provided to us by the public, so if anyone knows about the production of cannabis in the area, then please get in touch. Help us to rid the streets of drugs and the people who peddle them.”
Anyone with information on the supply of drugs should call police on 0161-872 5050 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555 111.
