Cannabis factories shut down as police storm homes and make arrests

Police in Doncaster shut down four cannabis factories and seized over £350,000 worth of drugs following a series of quick fire raids.

The warrants were carried out on Tuesday morning (July 9) by South Yorkshire Police at four properties in Spansyke Street, Ellerker Avenue and Stoneclose Crescent in the Hexthorpe area of the city.

Sergeant Steve Roberts, of Doncaster Central Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), said: "From the outside, these houses might look like ordinary, unassuming homes but once we gained entry inside, we could see that wasn't the case.

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"Huge, sophisticated cannabis grows were found inside every property we raided, with drugs being grown on a mass scale. We know from past experience that grows like these are used to fund organised crime groups and they can't be mistaken for personal use.

"Something we are seeing more and more of too is the electricity being bypassed in properties where cannabis is being grown on such a big scale. This poses a serious fire risk to innocent people in neighbouring properties and it also has the potential to trigger street-wide power cuts.

"It's up to us to report these homes to the electricity board once the warrants have been executed so they can make them safe for neighbours and reduce the risk of fires and dangerous electrical faults."

Four men who were arrested during Tuesday's raids have since been charged with production of a Class B drug. They were due to make their first appearance before magistrates' today (Wednesday, July 10).

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