Cannabis crackdown on drug 'gardens' in Gloucestershire

A CANNABIS crackdown has seen 22 drugs raids carried out by police in the last 10 months.

And they have charged at least 15 people with drug-related offences.

Officers said work is being done every single day to sniff out cannabis factories.

Last year they seized 830 cannabis plants in the Forest, compared to 227 in 2011.

And since April 2012 they have given out 59 cautions to people caught with small amounts of the Class B drug.

In Gloucester, however, the number of plants seized has gone down - in 2012 was 444, compared to 1,136 in 2011.

Police said the figures are often skewed by one big raid and the increase in the Forest was mainly due to the seizure of 500 plants in Longhope in July.

The cannabis crackdown is part of Operation Rapier which launched last summer to refocus officers attention.

Inspector Jane Horrobin said: "We recognised we were getting significant intelligence from the community and our resources needed to be restructured.

"We got into reactive mode but now we are being proactive and using basic, good policing skills."

In total her team has carried out 50 warrants since July and made about 50 arrests.

She said they work from 'snippets' of information and two officers are assigned to follow leads up by doing work such as reconnaissance.

She said: "Sometimes we get information and within an hour we have got a warrant and executed it. For instance, we may know drugs are being brought down from Gloucester and who is involved.

"We do get a lot of other drugs brought in and dealt from here, stuff like Ketamine and MCAT which is a trendy drug at the moment."

She said they have also provided leads to enable Gwent police to target 'significant criminals' living across the border. The majority of cannabis grown in the Forest is believed to stay there, as opposed to being part of a larger organised crime ring.

Inspector Horrobin said: "Even if it is localised, it still has an impact on the quality of life of neighbours as they don't want drugs on their doorstep."

She sends PCSOs on foot patrols to keep an eye on suspect properties. The helicopter is also used to take thermal images of properties as cannabis dens give off an unusual amount of heat.

She added: "I don't think drugs are any worse of a problem in the Forest than anywhere else but a rural location can make criminals feel like they are less likely to be disturbed.

"But we keep proving that they are wrong."

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk 8/5/2013