£550,000 worth of cannabis seized in Rotherham house raids

75 Officers uncovered cannabis worth £300,000 during the first drug bust from a home which had been “dangerously modified” so the drug could be grown in every room.

Six police officers from two forces raided the house on Peter Street, Thurcroft, last Tuesday, October 18.

The operation was led by Greater Manchester Police and assisted by South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officers who used forced entry to the home after obtaining a warrant.

In total, 337 cannabis plants worth an estimated £300,000 were seized and an Albanian man in his 30s was arrested at the scene and taken to Manchester for questioning.

Sgt Dave Baines, from Rotherham Central policing team, said the whole of the four-bedroom house had been taken over for use as a cannabis factory.

He said: “The four rooms were absolutely full of plants at various stages of growth \!a it was a professional set up.”

Unsafe modifications had been made to the house, Sgt Baines said, to make the drug factory bigger, including knocking walls out to create larger rooms. Sections were held together by a piece of wood.

The Albanian man was the only person in the property at the time of the raid and was living in a small boxed-off area.

Sgt Baines added  there was no indication at the time of his arrest that he was being used as a slave.

Rotherham Borough Council officials were also called to the scene after the house was deemed unsafe.

Forty-eight hours later, officers from Rotherham Central local policing team swooped on a house on Foljambe Road, East Dene.

The house contained 327 cannabis plants, worth an estimated £250,000 and a 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of production of cannabis and immigration offences.

He has been released on bail, pending further enquiries.

Insp Dave Struggles, of SYP, said the two drug hauls were not believed to be linked.