Landlords told be on the lookout as cannabis farms increase

The number of cannabis farm busts by police in the North East, has more than doubled in the past 12 months according to a new report which has been released.

The Association of Chief of Police Officers (Acpo) reported that between April 09 and March 10 a total number of 114 cannabis farms were found in Northumbria. This is a dramatic increase from previous years as in 2008/9 only 56 were discovered and the year before that only 26. A number of people have been arrested and thousands of pounds worth of cannabis plants have been seized by police in South Tyneside. A registered nurse was in court after she admitted conspiracy to produce cannabis, while 50 cannabis plants were seized from a property in South Shields. Only last year police smashed three cannabis farms in under a month.

Landlords are being urged to check their properties are not being used as cannabis farms, or for that matter any other illegal activities. They do have other legal obligations, as well as deterring drug activity. Despite being covered with landlord insurance, a tenant using a property as a cannabis farm can still cause a landlord lots of problems.

Acting Chief Superintendent Steve Wade, of Northumbria Police, said: “Northumbria has a relatively small number of cannabis farms compared to other parts of the country. However, we are not complacent. As well as tackling and dismantling the cannabis farms, we will do everything in our powers to strip those responsible of their assets, using proceeds of crime legislation so that they do not financially benefit from their crimes. In addition, we are working with landlords and residents to let them know the signs to look for, which indicate a property is being used for growing cannabis. The financial cost not only applies to those who willingly rent their properties to criminals – law-abiding landlords who have been duped often face huge repair bills, caused by the cannabis farmers and police raids.”

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