Busted! £13,500 of drugs seized in raid

Jun 11 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Busted! £13,500 of drugs seized in raid

A QUIET cul-de-sac became the scene of a dramatic drugs bust when police seized thousands of pounds-worth of cannabis.

About £13,500 worth of plants were removed from a house in Huddersfield in the lunchtime raid.

Officers from the Kirklees District Drugs Team battered down the door of the two-bedroom mews house on Park Lea, off Bradley Road in Bradley, yesterday.

They discovered 44 plants in various stages of growth.

There was also £2,500 in cash in the house, which was unoccupied but full of growing equipment.

Det Sgt Damian Roebuck, who led the operation, said: “It’s a good find for us, especially considering it is not an especially large property.

“It’s part of the supply chain and as a result of this operation, thousands of pounds of cannabis will not be making it onto the streets of Kirklees.”

The police allowed the Examiner to join the operation as part of National Tackling Drugs Week.

Det Sgt Roebuck briefed his team about the raid at Huddersfield Police Station before they went out.

He told them the suspected grower was a 30-year-old man who no longer lived in the house, but returned there regularly.

There were giveaway signs of illegal activity at the property – including open upstairs windows and black plastic coverings on the walls.

He told the officers: “We believe he is growing cannabis at this address and supplying it in and around Huddersfield.”

Armed with a search warrant, they were to use overt methods of entry – knocking on the door – before forcing the door open if no-one answered.