Police raid 400 plant cannabis factory (From Croydon Guardian)

Police raid 400 plant cannabis factory in Crown Point, Upper Norwood

11:20am Thursday 7th February 2013 in News

Police found around 400 cannabis plants at a cannabis factory in Upper Norwood yesterday.

Officers from the Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace Safer Neighbourhoods Teams carried out a search of the address in Crown Point on Wednesday morning.

They discovered around 400 cannabis plants growing inside the property, as well as hydroponics, chemicals and ventilation and heating equipment associated with the cultivation of cannabis.

A 49 year old man was arrested and charged with the cultivation of cannabis. He was remanded in custody and will appear before Camberwell Green Magistrates Court today.

The raid was carried out as part of Operation Hawk - the Met’s crack down on street-level drug use and supply.

The Upper Norwood SNT received information from the public concerned about the possible presence of cannabis at the address.

Officers could smell a strong smell of cannabis coming from the property when patrolling the area. As a result they applied for a search warrant.

Sergeant Andy Inglis, from the Upper Norwood SNT said: “We’ve taken out a cannabis factory from the local area and this will undoubtedly have a positive effect for local residents.

“Cannabis factories are extremely dangerous - not only from a criminal point of view, as they can often be the cause of other crime nearby, but they represent a real fire hazard for neighbours.

“We found heaters and had to get EDF engineers to come and make the electricity supply safe as the meter had seemingly been by-passed.

“It really is important that people tell us if they have suspicions about drugs being used or grown or of criminal activity going on in their neighbourhood, so that we can look into it and take action.”