Police plea to report possible drug dens

Another week, another cannabis factory unearthed in the Black Country. Elizabeth Joyce reports.

Whether it be an unassuming terraced house, sprawling factory or even the local shop, the drugs dens of the Black Country blend into the landscape perfectly.

And local people were today asked to keep the curtains twitching and an eye on their street as the police crack down on den after den.

In the past few months, Sandwell has seen more than its fair share of cannabis factories. Since the end of last year, there have been at least nine raids in the borough - one of which uncovered a haul worth an estimated £1 million on the streets.

Smethwick is the current hotspot for drugs den discoveries.

Two warehouses - one in Bridge Street North and another in Buttress Way - and a local shop have all been found to be storing cannabis.

Police believe the shop, which is on Cape Hill and was stormed by 10 officers on Thursday, was being used as the local distribution centre, where the drugs are taken before they are sold on to the streets.

DI Gary Dring said his officers had closed down 81 cannabis factories in the last 12 months alone in Smethwick, Oldbury and Warley.

"Most of the dens are in residential properties - normal everyday houses in normal everyday streets," DI Dring said. "They are usually privately-owned houses that have been rented out .

"What we are talking about here is organised crime worth millions and millions of pounds. A syndicate is set up and moves into a variety of rented accommodation, each one with its own caretaker who basically sleeps, eats and breathes there and tends to the plants until they are ready to be cultivated. Then they move on to the next place."

The most recent discoveries in Smethwick have been in industrial warehouses.

On January 2, a haul of 2,500 cannabis plants worth an estimated £1 million was unearthed at a factory in Buttress Way. Just four days later, more than 1,000 plants worth £500,000 were seized in a unit just a stone's throw away in Bridge Street North.

"There is a definite snowball effect," said DI Dring. "Once you discover one, you are led to another.

"The plants are taken to the warehouses for cultivation and then to the distribution centres, where they can be sold anywhere across the country."

At the shop on Cape Hill, police found £13,000 of cannabis ready to be sold on the streets and £3,000 cash. Inspector Bal Mand, who is in charge of policing in Smethwick, said the raid was organised following tip-offs from the community and officers were delighted with the resulting seven arrests.

Meanwhile, a warehouse in Sedgley Road East, Tipton, was found to have 750 plants worth £100,000 on January 4 and cannabis worth £6,000 was seized from a house in Three Shires Oak Road, Smethwick, on December 17.

In November, £40,000 of cannabis was found in a house in Hudson Road, Tipton, where officers discovered hundreds of plants, a room full of compost and bundles of cash.

But it is not just Sandwell that is home to drugs dens - the criminals' network stretches far across the Black Country.

On Thursday, 50 cannabis plants worth in excess of £100,000 were found in a rented house in Willenhall. Police swooped on the house in Gough Street at 7.20am.

In Dudley, 60 plants were found in the loft of a house in Vale Road, Netherton.

West Midlands Police is now asking members of the community to play their part in war on drugs.

DI Dring said: "There are very definite tell-tale signs people should look out for.

"If someone is setting up a cannabis factory there will be a lot of commotion. There will be people coming and going with compost and cables and the curtains may always be shut. When people walk past a house, they may smell cannabis or hear the noise of the industrial fans used to keep the plants cool.

"The police will act on every single tip-off we get and we rely on information from the community - no one knows your street as well as you do."

West Midlands Police can be contacted on 0845 1135000.