MORE than 250 large cannabis factories were discovered by police in the West Midlands last year, leading to the seizure of drugs worth around £84 million.

West Midlands Police say they are continuing to strike against organised crime gangs and drugs factories.

The force says that most of these industrial-size cannabis production set-ups are linked to organised crime gangs.

People have been trafficked here illegally to tend the crop, living in squalid conditions in the drugs dens, while children or vulnerable people are used to deal drugs or move them across the country, police say.

The factories can also be fire hazards as they need large amounts of electricity and police usually find the power supply has been bypassed. 

West Midlands Police are urging anyone who suspects a property is being used to deal or produce drugs to get in touch.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dale from the Serious Organised Crime and Exploitation team at West Midlands Police said: “We’re not talking about some recreational drug use here…this is top-level organised criminality, linked to exploitation and violence.

“The cannabis factories can be in industrial units or disused factories but often we find them in residential streets surrounded by family homes or even near schools. 

“They are a magnet for anti-social behaviour and crime. 

“Increasingly people are getting fed up with being blighted by these drug factories and are calling us with information. That’s helping us uncover more and more illegal premises and damaging the revenue making streams for crime gangs.”

The biggest factory uncovered last year was in a building in Slaney Road, Walsall, on May 24 when more than 6,000 cannabis plants were found crammed into 40 rooms.