City mayor speaks out as ANOTHER big cannabis farm found HE SLAMS ‘ABSENT LANDLORDS... NOT CHECKING BUILDINGS’ BUT PRAISES POLICE
BANGOR’S mayor has slammed “absent” landlords and developers after another huge cannabis farm was found on the city’s high street. Police raided two buildings on Thursday morning before a “substantial grow” was found across both buildings.
The force confirmed two people were arrested on suspicion of production of a Class B drug.
A spokesman said: “Our investigations into this are ongoing, and we will continue to work in partnership with the city council to remove all of these set ups from our community.”
It is the latest in a series of large cannabis farms found in buildings on Bangor High Street.
Bangor’s Mayor Gwynant Roberts said: “That Bangor has been targeted by some serious and organised criminal gangs for large scale cannabis production is, of course, disconcerting and concerns have been raised.
“The level of sophistication employed by these criminals has been unique and it is to the credit of North Wales Police that one by one they are being taken down.
“We should be grateful to the police that not only are massive amounts of drugs being discovered but that a message is being sent out to organised gangs that Bangor is not the place to test the professionalism and resilience of law officers.
“If anyone should be criticised for this recent surge in criminal activity, it has to be some of the absent landlords and developers of closed and abandoned commercial properties for not routinely checking their buildings or vetting those who have access to them.
“Apart from the safety risks from fires or rat infestation in these empty properties there has to be an onus of responsibility on all to work with the police in preventing this sort of criminal activity.
“Bangor City Council is exploring ways in which it can work more closely with the police and support their activities to reduce the number of problems in the city.”
Back in March, two “gardeners” caught tending more than £1 million worth of plants in a cannabis factory on the high street were jailed.
They were looking after over 2,000 plants and cuttings on four storeys of a former shop.