Cannabis factory raided every three days in region
A cannabis factory is raided by police in the region every three days – according to new figures which show £9 million worth of drugs were seized in a year.
But while that value figure is down from the year before, the number of factories discovered shot up from 88 to 129.
West Midlands Police revealed they discovered £8,883,900 worth of cannabis in the region from April 2015 to April 2016.
But this was a decrease of more than £1million from the previous year, where police found £10,163,700 worth of cannabis for 2014/15. However despite there being a drop in the value of cannabis found, the number of cannabis factories discovered has risen. In 2014/15 88 cannabis factories were discovered by police in the Black Country, but in 2015/16 there was 129 found – a 47 per cent increase.
The figures show cannabis factories are getting smaller but more common.
West Midlands Police has a force dedicated to tackling cannabis factories and the sale of the drug which is its Cannabis Disposal Team.
The team carries out raids every day across the West Midlands, including the Black Country.
Only yesterday morning, police found this cannabis factory in Wolverhampton
Police often highlight the dangers of the cultivation of cannabis.
An officer from the cannabis disposal team said: "We attend cannabis farms on a daily basis to find the electricity has been dangerously and illegally abstracted."
The team say cannabis farms 'are very dangerous places.'
Officers will often find electricity meters bypassed and overloaded electrical circuits run close to water-filled pipes. Plants that are grown up stairs in buildings can cause floorboards to rot which presents the dangers of the floor collapsing.
The cannabis disposal team work to make the buildings safe once they carry out the raids by dismantling and destroying the cultivation set up. Sometimes they will recycle growing equipment and donate them to local communities.
The cannabis disposal team is made up of 10 members of police staff, including a manager and a forensic expert.
The team was formed following a dramatic rise in the number of cannabis factories, and because of the health and safety issues involved to dispose of the cannabis. A dedicated team aimed at tackling cannabis factories helps police officers remain focused on crime fighting. The head of the cannabis disposal team, Mike Hall, had previously highlighted how cannabis farms have changed since the team's formation.
He explained that it used to be factory units but farms are now being spread across a number of smaller locations.
