Cannabis worth £100m seized across West Midlands in three years

Cannabis is big business – and police today revealed that £100 million worth of the drug has been seized in the West Midlands in the past three years alone.

Bosses labelled the figure as staggering and said fighting the crime was a 'huge drain' on resources.

Since October 2010 around 1,200 cannabis factories have been discovered and destroyed in the area – roughly one per day.

In 2012 West Midlands Police's cannabis disposal team seized 66,000 plants, which which carry a minimum street value of £30 million.

And at the last count more than 270 factories have been found this year so far.

Also this year 200 people have been charged with drug production and supply offences, while large amounts of cash and luxury goods have also been seized by police. Detective chief inspector Tom Chisholm, from force CID, said more and more people were growing their own cannabis to make money.

"Cannabis is currently the biggest drugs market in the West Midlands," he said.

"We have found that most criminal gangs will be involved in cannabis in some way as it is low risk and high profit to produce.

In October a £415,000 cannabis factory was discovered in Tipton,

A total of 10 men were arrested and 916 cannabis plants seized after officers swooped on a unit in Phoenix House, Castle Street, following a tip-off from a member of the public.

A month earlier two raids in West Bromwich and Tipton saw police seize 1,500 plants, worth around £1 million.

West Midlands cannabis disposal team manager Mike Hall said: "We know how much upset drug dealing causes in our communities.

"It attracts an undesirable element, tends to be linked to wider acquisitive crime and is a real concern, especially for families."