Cannabis farm busts almost double in year of Covid lockdowns

10,600 PLANTS WERE SEIZED BY COUNTY FORCE DURING 2020

THE number of cannabis plants seized by police has almost doubled in a year.

At least 10,607 cannabis plants were seized by the police force in 2020, exclusive figures show.

That was up from 5,517 plants seized the year before, according to the data obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

While the total number of crimes recorded by police went down by 5 per cent last year, the number of drug offences – including possession, trafficking and other crimes such as production – went up from 4,152 to 5,084.

Recently, Leicestershire Police were called to the scene of a fire that ripped through a house in Evington, in Leicester. It was being used to grow cannabis.

The blaze quickly caught the attention of the neighbours who alerted the fire and rescue services.

Police also attended and shortly after, acting on a tip-off, a second house in the same street was found with a “large” number of cannabis plants inside.

Neighbours living in the street looked on in shock as the roof of the burning property caved in.

One person, who did not want to be named, said: “It is quite unfortunate that something like this has happened in our street.”

According to UK Research and Innovation, a public body funded by the Department for Business, Energy and

Industrial Strategy, the lack of people moving around during lockdowns made it easier for police to track down dealers.

Leicestershire Police recorded 168 offences specifically related to cannabis production in 2020 – up from 152 the previous year.

National figures from the Home Office show that nationally, the number of possession of cannabis offences recorded by police was up from 113,663 in 2019/20 to 133,805 in 2020/21.

The rise in recorded drug crimes has been driven by pandemic restrictions providing police with a once-ina-generation opportunity to target dealers.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for drugs, Deputy Chief Constable Jason Harwin, said: “During lockdown, the reduction in overall crime levels allowed officers to be redirected towards more proactive policing to tackle organised crime groups involved in the cultivation and distribution of illegal and dangerous drugs.

“We will continue to focus efforts on the criminals and organised gangs who are destroying lives and fuelling the violence we’re seeing on our streets.

“Our tactics are already showing some success, with a 13 per cent increase between March 2019 and March 2020 in the overall amount of cannabis seized by police.”

In a statement about the house fire in New Way Road, Evington, on September 20, Leicestershire Police said that no arrests had been made but inquiries are ongoing.

It allowed officers to tackle groups involved in the cultivation of illegal and dangerous drugs Jason Harwin