Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jul 2005
Source: Times, The (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/454
Author: Valerie Elliott
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

EXPLOSIVE SECRET OF THE CANNABIS FARM IN SEMI NEXT DOOR

Gas And Electricity Worth Millions Of Pounds Is Being Stolen For 
Houses That Have Gone To Pot

Secret cannabis farms are being run by criminal gangs in suburban 
semis throughout the Home Counties Once associated with 1970s hippies 
and cultivated in communes in the Welsh hills, cannabis is now 
driving an illicit harvest that could be responsible for sales of the 
drug on the streets of Britain worth UKP 100 million a year.

The secret farming has been uncovered by energy companies who believe 
that electricity and gas worth UKP 340 million a year is being stolen 
and that a substantial part of the theft is to power cannabis factories.

British Gas has compiled figures to show that the number of incidents 
may be doubling in a year. It investigated 46 cases last year but so 
far this year there have been more than 71. A number of raids are 
still being planned and the figure could reach more than 100 by the 
end of the year.

Other companies are reporting similar trends. EDF Energy, for 
example, says that it is investigating 40 incidents a month. The 
Metropolitan Police investigated 420 cases last year and expects the 
figure in London alone to reach 600 this year.

What is intriguing, however, is that the factories are largely being 
operated by criminal drug gangs originating in Asia. The "farmers" 
tending the plants are largely young illegal asylum-seekers, who do 
not speak English, who have paid for unauthorised admission to Britain.

In return for their passage they have to live hidden in squalid 
conditions, sleeping on mattresses on the kitchen floor, guarding the 
crop for their gang masters.

The scale of the harvest is enormous -- some suburban semis are mere 
shells inside, concealing a vast operation. A house may seem quiet 
and largely abandoned, but inside gangsters have demolished ceilings 
and floors to allow the cannabis plants to grow into lofts in the roof.

The plants -- and in the most professional operations there could be 
500 to 700 growing under one roof -- are watered by sophisticated 
hydroponic irrigation systems and given direct light by highpowered 
heat lamps. These are not sun lamps but heavy duty lights commonly 
used by legitimate commercial growers or to keep chicks warm on poultry farms.

The problem is that the masterminds are fuelling their clandestine 
activity by tampering with meters and even worse, feeding gas through 
rubber hosepipes sealed with putty or a bit of tape. They also run 
cables from the mains, and if these overheat they will melt, risking 
fire and gas explosions affecting neighbouring houses.

A senior investigator for British Gas said: "A house may look normal 
outside but inside these criminals have created a paddy field effect 
with warm wind flowing from lamps and extractor fans and hundreds of 
leafy plants moving side to side. The more heat and light, the faster 
they grow and the bigger the crop."

He said that tell-tale signs to spot the factories were houses with 
windows always closed, sealed with tape, curtains permanently drawn 
or windows lined with bin bags for insulation. Letter boxes may also 
be blocked and to disguise the pungent smell from the plants incense 
is burnt in hallways.

In some cases criminals pay their energy bills regularly but ensure 
the sums are low.

The investigator said that raids were organised, sometimes with 
police, but that the "Mr Bigs" were rarely caught and so prosecutions 
were low. The illegal immigrants were usually deported. He urged 
people to be alert to the activity and report any suspicious comings 
and goings in the night, especially from houses that seemed empty and quiet.

Cannabis is harvested and then placed in bags that are usually 
carried away by a white van to another location for processing and 
bagging. An ounce of strong cannabis can fetch as much as UKP 120 in 
the UK, though most of it is sold in eighths or quarters of an ounce.

[Sidebar]

High-Energy Problem

Energy worth £340 million a year is stolen in Britain. About one 
third of this is used for cannabis cultivation

The average home uses ten units of electricity a day, costing about 
£500 a year. Crooks need to steal £3,000 of electricity a year for a 
small factory to be profitable

Cultivation of cannabis is dealt with under section 6 of the Misuse 
of Drugs Act 1971. Prosecutions can be at magistrates' court, where 
the maximum sentence is six months in jail, or in Crown Court where 
the maximum sentence is 14 years. Possession with intent to supply 
class C drugs is dealt with under section 5 of the same Act. Maximum 
sentence is five years

Abstracting electricity is covered by section 13 of the Theft Act 
1968. Maximum sentence is five years
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MAP posted-by: Beth