Police arrest 13 in cannabis campaign

More than a dozen people have been arrested and 287 plants seized following a series of raids on cannabis grows.

At the end of September, Nottinghamshire Police launched a county-wide campaign to raise awareness of residential cannabis factories.

Not in My Neighbourhood was created to give communities a guide to help spot the signs of possible cannabis cultivation while also outlining the risks of growing the drugs.

The month of action, which ran under the force’s Alliance Against Violence campaign saw advice for landlords and training delivered to council workers and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue outlining fire hazards around growing cannabis.

This was followed by a week of enforcement and raids in the city centre, Bilborough, Aspley, Eastwood, Chilwell, Cotgrave, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Mansfield and Bircotes.

Based on intelligence received as part of the campaign 16 addresses were searched, resulting in 287 grows – valuing a total of between £80,000 and £240,000 being dismantled.

Thirteen people were arrested.

Detective Inspector Mike Allen said: “I’m grateful to everyone who helped to share the messages and raise awareness of cannabis cultivation.

“Our aim was to equip as many people as possible with the tools to spot this illegal activity and prevent themselves from becoming victims of crime or inadvertently becoming offenders themselves.

“We have had some good intelligence given to us as a result of the campaign and this has led us to some sizeable grows.

“We will now look to pursue the offenders through the courts where possible – making out communities safer as a result.”