Police keep pressure on commercial cannabis growers

Police keep the pressure on commercial cannabis growers with another week of action aimed at disrupting criminals and educating communities

Greater Manchester Police is keeping the pressure on commercial cannabis growers with another week of action aimed at disrupting criminals and educating communities.

The force has continued its crackdown on cannabis cultivation with a series of activity this week, which has seen warrants executed across Rochdale, Wigan and Bolton as well as community engagement initiatives where PCSOs have made reassurance visits to target areas.

The week of activity comes two months after a campaign held in conjunction with Crimestoppers, where ‘Scratch and Sniff’ cards were distributed to residents in Greater Manchester.

The Crimestoppers results, also released this week, show there has been a 20% increase in the reporting of commercial cannabis cultivation by members of the public as a result of the June campaign.

Detective Superintendent Mark Smith from Greater Manchester Police said: “The Crimestoppers campaign has helped us greatly in our mission to destroy commercial cannabis cultivation - it has borne some fantastic results but the fight is not won just yet.

“Commercial cannabis cultivation brings drug-related crime, violence and anti-social behaviour into communities, and we work hard every day to locate and dismantle criminal groups that use cannabis production as a tactic to fund serious crime.

“This week is a public display of our continuous fight against cannabis cultivation. We want to send a message that we will never ease the pressure on these criminals, whose actions can seriously harm individuals and their neighbourhoods.”

As well as highlighting the warning signs and criminal impact of cannabis cultivation, GMP is working with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to highlight the safety issues and the potential dangers that it can pose to a community.

Assistant County Fire Officer Peter O’Reilly from GMFRS said: “Over recent years firefighters from GMFRS have been called to tackle many fires that have started due to cannabis being grown and we want to remind people of the dangers they put themselves and members of the community in when they are involved in such activity.

“Cannabis is often grown in empty houses and buildings so if a fire breaks out people aren’t around to call the fire service, meaning that adjoining and close-by properties can also be exposed to fire if it was to develop without being detected.”

DS Smith added: “We are determined the bring the full weight of the law against those engaged in this dangerous and exploitative criminal activity, but we need the public’s help to weed it out.

“We ask everyone to remain vigilant – check the warning signs and, where you suspect anything, contact police or Crimestoppers, completely anonymously.”