It may be illegal, but the sale of cannabis is big business in the UK. A 2018 report from the Institue of Economic Affairs concluded that the black market trade of cannabis in the UK is worth over £2.5 billion.
It's no surprise then that criminals produce the class B substance on a huge - sometimes industrial - scale. Of course, farming the drug comes with risks, and Northumbria Police have raided a number of cannabis farms across the North East in recent months.
In many cases the farms are tended to by illegal immigrants 'employed' by drug traffickers - to the point where a 2020 study by the University of Cambridge argued the practice was a "modern slavery blindspot."
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We've rounded up ten of the latest illegal set-ups found by officers.
Sunderland city centre
Northumbria Police discovered a 'significant' cannabis farm while carrying out raids in Sunderland and South Tyneside. A dedicated taskforce executed coordinated warrants across the area last week to track down a number of suspects.
While executing one of the warrants in Sunderland city centre, officers also came across a significant cannabis farm with more than 100 plants at various stages of growth. The drugs were seized and the farm has been dismantled – with enquiries ongoing into the discovery.
Officers drew up a shortlist of their most wanted burglary suspects. They were each believed to be attempting to stay under the radar and were evading arrest.
Officers from the neighbourhood support team (NST) carried out dawn strikes at over a dozen homes – including in Sunderland city centre, Ryhope, Downhill, Houghton and South Shields. A total of 10 suspects were arrested during the raids between Wednesday and Friday last week.
Eight men and one woman were detained after being wanted in connection with ongoing burglary investigations. A further male was arrested on suspicion of robbery and breaching a restraining order.
Consett
One of the biggest cannabis grows in the Consett area of County Durham was discovered by police in a disused nightclub. Neighbourhood Police teams from Consett and Stanley found a "substantial" cannabis grow spanning over three floors of the disused nightclub Trades last weekend.
A member of the public contacted the police after they had concerns the building was being used to grow drugs for distribution in the Consett area. After entering the building, officers located just under 900 plants making it one of the largest cannabis grows police have seen in Consett and it was subsequently removed.
One male was also arrested and officers said enquiries are ongoing in relation to the arrest. Read the full story here.
Blyth
Trung Phan was jailed for being concerned in the production of cannabis farm in Cowpen Road, Blyth following a hearing at Newcastle Crown Court on March 4. The illegal immigrant was looking after a large North East cannabis farm with days of arriving in the UK on a small boat.
Phan arrived at Dover on May 28 last year and was taken to an immigration centre then moved to Home Office accommodation in London. But with the help of underworld contacts, he managed to travel to Newcastle that same day and by June 12 he was living in the cannabis farm.
Despite being surrounded by 325 plants, worth up to £129,000, he "ludicrously" claimed he didn't realise he was living in the midst of a drugs factory. A jury found the 39-year-old guilty of being concerned in the production of cannabis and he has now been jailed for 18 months.
Gateshead
A dopey crime gang who gambled on setting up a cannabis farm in a former betting shop backed a loser. It was quickly busted.
Two Vietnamese cannabis gardeners had been deployed to look after the fledgling farm in a disused Betfred shop in Gateshead. Police were alerted to the fact there was movement in the premises and turned up to find the drugs factory.
Nguyen Hoanganh and Quang Dao, who were in the UK illegally, were arrested at the scene and have now been jailed for cultivating cannabis.
At a hearing in February, Newcastle Crown Court heard it was on the night of January 12 last year that the police found the farm.
Some 152 seedling plants were discovered, along with paraphernalia associated with growing the drug. Due to the early stage they were at, each plant was only worth £10 but the potential yield was far greater.
Hoanganh and Dao, neither of who have previous convictions, were both jailed for six months. The court heard Hoanganh had only arrived in the country last year but Dao had been here for years and was a registered absconder.
Peterlee
Five men were charged following the discovery of a large cannabis farm in Peterlee back in January. The plantation, worth up to £900,000, was found in a building on Yoden Way, Peterlee on Thursday, January 13.
Danh Van Le (32), Nam Ky Ngo (29), Hung Xuan Pham (36), Hai Nguyen Quang (25) and Lam Quang Le (28) were all arrested at the scene. They were subsequently charged with the production of a controlled drug.
At Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court, all five individuals were remanded in custody. They will appear before Durham Crown Court at a later date.
Washington
A prospective multi-million pound drugs factory in Washington was destroyed after police discovered a cannabis farm set up in an industrial unit. Officers raided a unit on the Pattinson North Industrial Estate in January after a tip off from the public about suspected drug supply linked to the premises.
Police found a significant cannabis operation with more than 100 plants at various stages of growth. They also found building materials which suggested the drugs farm was set to be expanded across the entire building.
The illicit farm has now been dismantled and the drugs seized. Enquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible for the farm.
Forest Hall
Two houses on the same street had been converted into large cannabis farms and were being looked after by illegal immigrants.
Ismet Degjoni and Ronaldo Kurti had paid thousands of pounds to be brought to the UK in the back of a lorry, with false promises of a better life and lawful job opportunities. But they were soon put to illegal work by a criminal gang behind the drugs factories in Forest Hall, North Tyneside.
Police turned up at Oswin Road on October 7 last year. While there was no active cannabis farm at the first house they visited, neighbours told them the same landlord owned two other properties on the street.
Newcastle Crown Court heard in January that at one, there was no reply but a strong smell of skunk cannabis was emanating from it.
Degjoni was then seen to jump out of a back window but he was detained and arrested.
A total of 211 cannabis plants were inside, worth up to £88,000.
At the other house, two doors along, there was a similarly pungent aroma and Kurti was detained outside.
Inside, there were 134 plants, worth up to £56,000.
Both men were "illegal entrants", with Degjoni having arrived from France tens days before his arrest and Kurti from France six months previously.
Both pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and were each jailed for two years.
North Shields
A cannabis farm that could have netted a crime gang huge profits was smashed in a police bust. Three bedrooms of a house in North Shields had been converted into a drugs factory capable of producing cannabis worth up to £196,000.
When police raided the home, there were a total of 297 plants growing, Newcastle Crown Court heard. Greek man Daniel Zoto had been employed as a "gardener" at the cannabis farm and has now been jailed for producing the drug.
Zoto pleaded guilty to producing cannabis on the basis he had been in the UK for three months, having come here for lawful employment but having been unable to find any. He was on the verge of being homeless when he was introduced to a man who offered him work and accommodation looking after the plants.
He had been doing this for a few weeks before his arrest. Zoto, 21, of no fixed address, who has no previous convictions, was jailed for six months.
Matthew Purves, defending, said: "He is from Greece and his parents live there and support his one-year-old child. He left to look for work because his family are extremely poor."
Newcastle
Firefighers were praised after they uncovered a huge drug operation believed to be worth between £50,000 and £75,000
Crews from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) received a report that water was affecting the electrics at a takeaway in Newburn in November. The crews were quickly deployed to the premises on Warkworth Crescent and were on the scene in just six minutes due to concerns that the issue could lead to a fire.
Upon attendance they identified the water was coming from a flat above the takeaway. But crews were unable to get a response from the occupants of the property.
The firefighters used a specialist lock pulling kit to force entry to the property where they found 250 cannabis plants filling four rooms, believed to be worth between £50,000 and £75,000. At the time, officers at Northumbria Police said they were investigating the farm and are carrying out enquiries to identify those responsible.
Stanley
A cannabis farm with around 200 plants was discovered by police in a home in County Durham. Durham Constabulary was called to Bircham Street in Stanley shortly before 3pm on March 7 after reports of a cannabis grow.
On arrival, officers discovered the rooms and loft space of a residential home had been converted. Structural amendments had been made and the electrical supply tampered with.
Cannabis plants were discovered at various stages of growth with Durham Constabulary confirming that around 200 mature plants were found in total. Police said enquiries are ongoing into the incident and shared photos of the cannabis grow.
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