Four arrests after £1.8M of cannabis seized in raid
Police Scotland outside The Queen's Head Inn in Selkirk.
Police Scotland outside The Queen's Head Inn in Selkirk.
A drugs haul with a possible street value of almost £2million has been found at a cannabis cultivation farm in the former Queens Head pub.
Detectives searched two men on the street and then swooped on the pub and its two flats on Tuesday afternoon.
Four men aged 22, 28, 30 and 38 were arrested, quizzed and charged.
They were held in custody and appeared on petition in private before a sheriff at Jedburgh yesterday.
They face various drugs-related charges.
Police confirmed they had seized around 2,000 plants from the premises at the corner of The Valley and West Port.
And they also confirmed the cannabis could have been sold on the street for between £700,000 and £1.8million.
Detective Superintendent Pat Campbell commented: “Thanks to some excellent police work by local officers, we have recovered a substantial cannabis cultivation and seized the drugs before they could be distributed within our communities.”
Forensic experts and power engineers were at the premises on Wednesday.
Stunned neighbours around the closed-down pub watched as the men were taken away in handcuffs with their faces covered by hoods.
And one – who we agreed not to name – said she had been suspicious for some time after spotting light through a gap in one of the boarded-up windows.
She told us: “I’ve been suspicious for months. It’s the comings and goings. They were always banging on that door to be let in and always went about in twos and threes.
“They spoke in a foreign language and they came out late at night with black bags, which looked quite light because they were chucking them about.”
Superintendent Campbell said: “Police Scotland is committed to tackling drug crime and bringing those involved in the production and distribution of illegal substances to justice.
“The public can play a vital role in helping us identify and dismantle cannabis cultivations by remaining vigilant for the tell-tale signs that one is in operation.
“Individuals buying large quantities of soil and fertiliser, or using large-scale heating and lighting equipment, may attract suspicion, while properties using large amounts of electricity could be involved in the cultivation process.”
The Queens Head was once one of the busiest pubs in the town.
But over the past few years it has opened and closed for business on a number of occasions.
The last tenant quit in December last year after trading for three months.
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