Hash factory in terraced house (From Halesowen News)

Hash factory in terraced house

2:42pm Thursday 11th January 2007

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Cannabis plants with a street value of nearly £250,000 have been discovered at a house in Quinton.

Police seized the drugs after an early morning raid at a mid-terraced property in West Boulevard last Thursday.

Police were initially alerted to the property when an officer smelled the strong stench of the plants while walking nearby.

Fourteen uniformed officers broke into the premises at around 7am after search warrants were obtained.

They were shocked to find what appeared to be a cannabis factory operating out of nearly every room.

Sergeant Jeff Doak of Quinton police said: "The front room was like any normal house with a Christmas tree and decorations.

"The rest of the house was a well-ventilated, industrial setup with extractor fans and 60 overhead lights to help the plants grow.

"All the windows at the rear of the house were taped up to stop air escaping."

Checks had found the amount of electricity being used by the house to be abnormally high.

Officers also recorded the largest heat source ever from the sensor of their helicopter.

They are now looking for four men of south east Asian origin who they believe were responsible for growing the plants.

Sgt Doak said: "Despite the the quantity of plants grown none of the neighbours had the first clue what was going on. The men received a Christmas card from the people next door and even sent one back in return. They clearly wanted things to appear as normal as possible."

Anyone with information can call 0845 1135000 and ask for Rose Road police station.

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