GANGS AND GHOSTS PUSH UK'S HOMEGROWN CANNABIS HARVEST TO A RECORD
HIGH

60% of Hash on Britain's Streets Was Grown Here

Police Raids Fail to Halt Booming Drug Industry

Cannabis cultivation in Britain, whether in inner city lofts or on
patches of remote farmland, is booming, according to new research
published today.

Plants are being grown and harvested at record levels for the UK
cannabis market, and more than 60% of hash sold on the streets is
believed to be home grown.

The research, by the drugs charity DrugScope, reveals there are a
staggering number of cannabis farms in operation, with the police
raiding at least three a day. More than 1,500 have been shut down in
London alone over the past two years.

DrugScope says the rapid rise of homegrown hash in Britain has filled
the vacuum left by drug users' disillusionment with the quality of
imported cannabis resin. The market share for homegrown has soared
from 11% a decade ago. At the same time the Moroccan cannabis crop -
the main source of British imports - has slumped by 62% in the face
of a government eradication campaign and unfavourable weather.

But the drug information charity dispels the myth that the strength
of cannabis now available on the streets of Britain is much higher
than a generation ago. It says that while super-strength "skunk"
varieties are grown by some British "homegrown" producers it is much
more likely they will cultivate lower strength varieties, which
produce a much higher yield.

The research, in the charity's Druglink magazine, also shows that far
from being a "window sill" hobby for enthusiasts, cannabis growing is
becoming a big business dominated by Vietnamese criminal gangs, with
police and growers engaged in an increasingly sophisticated tactical
battle to detect or protect the cash crop.

It also identifies a new breed of "guerrilla cannabis growers" who
plant marijuana on other people's land and return three months later
to harvest it.

Criminal gangs

Six months ago, the police launched Operation Keymer, a national
crackdown on cannabis farms, and they say that 80% of those they have
raided had more than 50 plants, with most using a simple set up of
overhead lights, fans and plant pots. The electricity meter was
usually bypassed to power the high intensity lamps without alerting
the power company. The police found one farm wired up to a street lamp.

Fewer than one in 10 were using the more expensive and technically
difficult "hydroponic" systems, growing the plants in nutrient-added
water rather than soil.

One grower quoted by Druglink magazine said: "Everyone is looking for
a way into the market. We know how much money is to be made. We read
it in the papers. It's just getting the property so you can get a crop on."

But the police estimate that between two-thirds and three-quarters of
the cannabis farms they have closed down were run by Vietnamese
criminal gangs, with evidence from the past 12 months suggesting they
are active not only in London but also south Wales, Birmingham, East
Anglia, Yorkshire and the north-east.

In some cases, the Metropolitan Police say young illegal migrants
have been coerced into acting as human sprinkler systems to repay the
cost of their journey to Britain. Some have been found living in
cupboards, tiny utility rooms, and on airbeds in hallways to allow
maximum space for the plants.

Paul, a spokesman for one of the largest UK cannabis seed banks,
quoted by Druglink, said: "There has been a steady growth in the UK
homegrown and farming sector since 2001. In the past four years
Vietnamese gangs have taken over wholesale farming. They know what
they are doing. They are trained, professional and it is increasingly
widespread."

"The start-up costs can be anything from UKP10,000 to UKP20,000. Once
set up, the gangs place an illegal immigrant, called a 'ghost', as a
house and plantsitter."

The police have become so concerned about the criminal gang
connection that they have warned landlords and letting agencies of
the dangers of renting property to apparently innocent Vietnamese people.

This in turn brought a warning to the police from the community
relations watchdog the Runnymede Trust not to breach anti-racism laws.

Tell-tale signs

. Cannabis farms closed down by the police have usually been detected
following a tip-off by beat bobbies, landlords or neighbours

. Tell-tale signs include covered windows, late night visitors, lots
of black bin liners, compost and gardening equipment, and vents from
rear windows, police say

. Electricity companies have identified properties bypassing meters
and the London fire brigade found 50 farms last year after house fires

. Increasingly, police are also using heat-detection devices -
including helicopter mounted sweeps - to pick up on the presence of
the many lamps needed to grow hidden crops

. Cannabis farmers have responded to greater police pressure by
"dressing up" front rooms, with Christmas trees and toys, and
disguising farms. Harry Shapiro of DrugScope said: "Growing cannabis
commercially near the point of sale can dramatically increase
profits, but this increases the risk of detection"