WEEDING OUT THE CANNABIS FARMERS

SWINDON police are taking part in a nationwide crackdown on cannabis factories.

Twelve such drug dens have been raided in the last eight weeks in the
town as part of Operation Dali with police recovering UKP3.5m of cannabis.

Detective Sergeant Chris Volkelt-Igoe, of Wiltshire Police
headquarters in Devizes, said that it was vital the public played
their part in helping to close down cannabis factories.

"All our activity is done through intelligence we receive from the
public," he said.

"We act on information as and when we get it. The reality is we
carried out these 12 warrants in the past eight weeks based on
intelligence from the Swindon area."

DS Volkelt-Igoe explained the telltale signs people could expect to
see if there is a drugs den near their home.

"There will be comings and goings to the premises, there will be
strangers visiting at all times of day and night.

"The blinds will be closed over the windows and there could be a
pungent smell emanating from inside." The first of the suspected
cannabis factories to be raided by police as part of the recent
operation was in Okebourne Park, Liden.

Police found between 180 and 200 plants, which had an estimated
street value of about UKP300,000.

The raid had a knock-on effect as police searched properties all over
town, uncovering another 11 factories of varying sizes.

DS Volkelt-Igoe said there was an added danger with cannabis
factories that many people were not aware of.

"These houses often tend to by-pass the electricity sources," he said.

"So there is a risk of electrocution by going into the premises and
there is also the danger of fire."

Earlier this year, police in London began using thermal imaging
cameras to reveal the locations of cannabis factories.

The hand-held devices detect the extreme heat caused by the lighting
systems used in the intensive rearing of marijuana plants.

Properties where cannabis is being grown will release 10 times the
amount of heat of an ordinary family home.

Each is capable of producing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of
cannabis a year.

House Hid Plants Worth Thousands

A VIETNAMESE couple were jailed last month for cultivating hundreds
of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis.

Tung Pham, 20, and his girlfriend Thi Nguyen, 32, could be thrown out
of the country after completing their 21-month sentences.

The couple were arrested after police found a sophisticated cannabis
farm in Okebourne Park, Liden, in July.

They told how they had met a man in a market in Lewisham, south
London, who had arranged for them to live in Swindon.

Having paid them a UKP200 lump sum, he bought them food, paid the
rent and told them how to cultivate and harvest the plants.

He also advised them not to go outside.

Nguyen and Pham, of no fixed address, both admitted being concerned
in the cultivation of a class C drug.

Other cannabis factories were found as part of Operation Dali,
including in Haydon Street, Edgar Row Close, Wroughton, Downland
Close, Redhouse, Alexandra Road, County Road and Eastbury Way, Redhouse.

Police said the UKP3.5m total haul was easily the largest ever
uncovered in the town.

Earlier this month the Adver-backed Swindon Drugs Hotline was
launched in an effort to free our town of the misery caused by the drug trade.

The phone line allows people who are concerned about drug dealing in
their area to phone and leave information anonymously.

And the tip-off system is already paying dividends with police
following up a number of leads in the town.

Anyone with information on drug dealing should call the Adver-backed
Swindon Drugs Hotline on 0179507900.