Cannabis is seized
An £80,000 haul of cannabis plants has been seized from a drug "factory" on the outskirts of a village near Stafford.
Police discovered 1,000 plants at two homes on the edge of Stowe-by-Chartley, near Amerton Farm, in an early morning drugs raid.
The operation was the latest in a string of raids in the area in recent weeks which have uncovered hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis plants at organised "drugs nurseries".
Detectives and officers from Stone Neighbourhood Policing Unit executed search warrants at the properties near Amerton on Monday.
Two men, aged 43 and 38, along with two women, aged 43 and 39, were arrested following the operation. They were all from the Stafford area.
Officers across Staffordshire Police's Chase division – which covers the Stafford, Cannock, Stone, Wombourne and Codsall areas – have executed four successful drugs warrants in the past two months.
The warrants followed information from residents, who reported suspicious activity.
One raid, at a property near Penkridge, uncovered 157 cannabis plants, worth up to £150,000, and 11,000 litres of illicit alcohol.
Police from the Watling Street Proactive Unit, in partnership with HM Revenue & Customs, carried out the search on June 8. A number of people are currently helping officers with their inquiries.
On May 25, two warrants were executed in South Staffordshire, one in Perton and the other in Essington. Almost 1,000 cannabis plants were found at the address in Perton and evidence of similar plants was found in Essington. A number of people are again assisting the police with their inquiries.
Following the successful operations, senior police officers are warning that it is not safe for drugs gangs to operate in the area.
Detective Inspector Jane Hewett said the drugs raids were the result of a "partnership" between officers and the community.
"As part of a continuous strategy to work with residents, officers responded to all information of suspicious activity received from the public," she said.
"All four properties visited were organised nurseries. We would urge anyone with information of suspicious activity to take the necessary precautions and not enter the property but to contact their neighbourhood officer."
Chief Superintendent Nick Howe, commander of Chase division, said: "Officers from Staffordshire are continuing to target drug activity and bring offenders to justice."
