[Sativa]

A cannabis farm worth more than £500,000 has been discovered.

Northumbria Police swooped on an address in Bamburgh Close, Blyth, Northumberland, yesterday and found 620 illegal plants.

The raid, part of Operation Ardbreck, followed inquiries into a large scale and organised cultivation of cannabis.

The farm, inside a house, has been linked to Vietnamese gangs.

Det Chief Insp Michael Barton, of the Northumberland command area, said: “These operations can spring up in any residential neighbourhood or rural area.

“Be under no illusion – this is serious and organised crime which affects us all.

“I would urge anyone with any suspicions that such activity is occurring in their area to contact the police in the strictest confidence.”

The plants were in various stages of maturity and police also recovered a vast amount of harvested cannabis, an extensive system of sophisticated lighting, hydroponic equipment and a quantity of cash

The exact quantities and values of the drugs are still being established.

Three men – thought to be from the Far East – aged 34, 30, 47, have been arrested and are currently helping police with their inquiries.

In a separate incident, last week the Chronicle reported on a suspected cannabis farm going up in smoke in a large house blaze in at Meldon Terrace, Heaton.
Neighbours were evacuated as fire crews from the Fossway and Colby Court stations extinguished the flames on Friday.

The blaze is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

And just 10 days before that we reported on another large pot farm at Banbury Way, North Shields, which was thought to have the potential to earn its owners £1m.

After the discovery, Northumbria police investigated both regional and national links with Chinese and Vietnamese gangs moving into the North East to cash in on the drugs trade.

A forest of mature plants and seedlings were being cultivated with specialist lights and equipment. It was one of the biggest ever uncovered on Tyneside.

News Hawk- Lord Mong http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: Topday's Chronicle
Author: Gareth Deighan
Copyright: NCJ Media Limited 2007
Website: icNewcastle - Police probe Far East link to cannabis farm