Police officers encourage the community and landlords to spot the signs of a cannabis factory

Police officers are issuing advice to the community and landlords in Northamptonshire on spotting the signs of a cannabis factory in their neighbourhood.

A number of factories have been discovered and dismantled in recent weeks, primarily due to intelligence received directly from the community regarding suspicious activity in their area.

Now police officers are issuing advice on what exactly to be aware of in your neighbourhood that may indicate a cannabis factory is being set up or in operation.

Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Chris Stevens, said: “Community intelligence has been absolutely key in the discovery of these cannabis factories so first of all, I would like to thank those people for reporting and helping us tackle this issue.

“A lot of people may think that cannabis factories are a victimless crime, but they aren’t, and people need to understand this fact.

“The people in charge of cannabis factories often use vulnerable people to operate them – letting them take all of the risks, paying them poorly, and making them do the dirty work. This is modern slavery and it is something we will not tolerate.

“Furthermore, cannabis factories blight an area. No one should feel miserable about where they live and having a factory of this nature in your local area really brings down a neighbourhood.

“Landlords should also be aware that cannabis factories cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to a property and the impact on them financially is huge as they will bear the cost of the clean-up and repair.

“I would encourage both members of the public and landlords to take a look at the signs below and let us know of anything suspicious that may indicate a cannabis factory is being set up or in operation, so we can take it down and prosecute those responsible for setting it up.”

Signs:

• Curtains and windows closed and drawn, even in hot weather
• Strange comings and goings from the address with vehicles attending very late at night
• Smells coming from the address that could indicate cannabis is being grown
• Light coming from roof spaces or leaking through the building in odd places
• Sounds of fans constantly running in the address
• Cables running to and from lampposts nearby
• Rubbish bags full of garden related waste.
• Occupants and visitors who are rarely seen, except at odd hours of the day.
• Condensation on the windows
• Copious amounts of fertiliser being taken to the address at odd times

Advice to landlords:

• Be mindful of the need to conduct regular inspections of the properties you are letting out
• Be sure you are happy with the identity of the tenants before you let out the address and confirm they are the people living there and not sub-letting