Watch as £2million cannabis haul goes up in smoke
West Midlands Police are finding 145 house and flat factories each month
West Midlands Police are finding 145 house and flat factories each month
Cops have incinerated £2million worth of cannabis, which was seized from West Midlands drug farms in December.
The Mail revealed last year that a specialist team of investigators has been set up to tackle the massive rise in cannabis factories across the city.
The latest batch of drugs were destroyed at an incinerator in Small Heath and were seized from just 30 farms before Christmas.
West Midlands Police are finding 145 house and flat factories each month and have launched a Drug Investigation Team to target the organised gangs involved.
The Cannabis Disposal Team, which works alongside the drug team investigators, has cleared more than 1,000 cannabis farms in the West Midlands since it was formed in 2011
The latest haul - taken from factories cracked during December - included 790 plants taken from a converted property in Bilston and 479 plants found inside a home in Stechford.
Disposal Team Manager Mike Hall, said: "The facility is an energy-from-waste plant, so it means drug growers we've intercepted are helping to power Birmingham!
"In all seriousness, though, 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.
"No-one should be expected to live with drug dealing on their doorstep - we're responding to community concerns, acting on the information they provide, and shutting down more and more drugs production facilities."
The Cannabis Disposal Team model has proved so successful that it's since been adopted by others forces across the UK, including most recently Merseyside Police.
Detective Inspector Tom Chisholm, who heads up the Drug Investigation Team, said: "We've had great success closing drugs factories by acting on information and suspicions provided by members of the public.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk 11/03/2013
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