Two men held in dope farm raid
TWO men were arrested after police raided a house in Blackridge last week seizing 150 plants from a cultivation.
The arrests came as part of an ongoing operation by Lothian and Borders Police to "weed out" cannabis farms, which are on the increase, in county homes.
Police in West Lothian launched a "Weed Them Out" awareness campaign in October and drug enforcement officer Detective Inspector Kenny Ritchie said police had uncovered 11 large cultivations in the force area.
The majority of them were operated by organised gangs from South-east Asia.
A large part of the police strategy is to work alongside the public, business sector, local landlords, council and postal workers and other agencies working in the community.
Three cannabis farms are being busted by police in the Lothians every week, with more than 1.5 million worth of plants seized in the last nine months alone.
New figures show a total of 10,000 plants were recovered from the cannabis cultivations between last April and January, with arrests being made in about 95 per cent of raids.
The number of people being charged with "producing, manufacturing or cultivating" drugs – which are almost wholly cannabis-related – has also quadrupled in the Lothians over the last six years.
Many of those arrested are low-level figures hired as "gardeners" to grow the plants by other members of organised crime groups. Gangsters from China, Malaysia and Vietnam are said to be behind the majority of the drug operations, and detectives say they have links to human trafficking, prostitution, money-laundering and counterfeit goods.
It is believed they moved their operations north from London, the Midlands and Merseyside after being targeted by the police.
Detective Chief Inspector John Walker, from the Force Intelligence Bureau, said: "The 104 cannabis cultivations we have uncovered since April go right from operations with a few dozen plants to several hundreds.
"These are linked to serious organised criminal groups, not anyone growing for personal use.
"The increasing number of cultivations is not a trend linked only to Lothian and Borders. This is a trend seen across the rest of Scotland and the whole of the UK.
"Those involved are crime groups operating on a national level, particularly those
of South-east Asian origin. They are reaping the profits while others are employed on a lower level for the growing."
The latest weapon to target the gangs is thermal imaging equipment. The infrared cameras can scan properties to find heat spots that could give an indication of the use of high-powered lights associated with cannabis cultivation.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Serious organised crime causes untold harm to our communities. That is why all decent people must support the police as they pursue serious organised criminals until they are stripped of their ill-gotten gains."
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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