£1m cannabis farm found in police raid
A CANNABIS farm with an estimated street value of £1m has been uncovered by police.
Officers executed a raid at a property on Factory Lane, in Blackley, and discovered hundreds of plants.
Police officers have been stationed outside the building, which is a rented unit above a garage, since the raid was carried out on Monday.
No arrests have been made and Greater Manchester Police have said the scene will remain in place while enquiries continue.
Images shared by GMP show large numbers of the plants lining the walls. Fans can also be seen to keep the room ventilated.
The fire service and the electricity board were also called to the scene to aid officers.
Detective Constable Helen Rutter, of GMP’s City of Manchester Challenger team, said: “The seizure of this cannabis farm is a significant recovery in our ongoing efforts to tackle and disrupt organised crime in Manchester.
“We believe that the street value of the farm is approximately one million pounds so, not only have we stopped a large amount of drugs from hitting the streets, but we have also struck those responsible directly in the pocket.
“Our team is committed to bringing those involved in organised crime to justice but in order to do that we need intelligence from the local community regarding the activities of individuals connected to organised crime groups.
“Thankfully we have a good relationship with many of our local communities, who are supportive of the work that we do, and we hope that can continue so I want to ask that anybody with information about this cannabis farm, or anybody connected to it, please contact us.”
An eyewitness to the raid said: “Yesterday I was going past and there were two plain police cars. Eight coppers came running out.
“It was unusual to see. It was at 9.45am on Monday morning they were still there at 9pm last night.”
A spokeswoman for the fire service said: “We were called at 10.48am to Factory Lane. One fire engine from Blackley attended.
“We were called to assist the police and left at 1.19pm on Monday.”
Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 3735 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.