Police vow on fortress "cannabis cafe"

[Frazz]

A controvesial "cannabis cafe" has reopened just days after police used a tractor to smash their way in.

 

During the dramatic raid the side of the building collapsed while people were still inside.

 

Now the owner of the cafe, which police believe is being used to sell cannabis, has tried to turn it into an impregnable fortress.

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He has stacked car tyres filled with concrete around the building in Freshbrook Road, Lancing, and installed razor wire to deter intruders.

 

A spokesman for the owner, who did not want to be identified, said: "We were back up and running within days of the police raid."

 

One of those inside at the time said: "It was like something out of a Bruce Willis film. Somebody could have very easily been very badly hurt of even killed."

 

Another said: "It could have easily collapsed completely with everyone inside it. As it was people did get minor injuries, bumps and bruises, and one woman suffered an asthma attack."

 

But police were unapologetic about the estimated £20,000 worth of damage caused to the building when the tractor pulled away a window so officers could gain entry.

 

And they vowed to step up the pressure in a bid to close the cafe once and for all.

 

Chief Inspector Lawrence Hobbs, Adur district police commander, said the building's previous defences forced his officers to use the tractor.

 

He said: "We have held meetings with the local residents and they clearly want us to close this place down.

 

"With the fortifications that have been made, at great expense, our options were diminishing. That meant we had to take the relatively drastic action of employing a tractor during the last raid.

 

"We considered the health and safety implications very carefully and were confident nobody would be hurt, and nobody was.

 

"We are not deterred by the owners' latest comments or their refortifications. We will continue to execute warrants as and when we feel it is necessary.

 

"There has to be a recognition that these types of illegal enterprises will not be tolerated.

 

"This is not about recreational drug use on a minor scale. We are not talking about an individual having a quiet joint in their own home.

 

"We are talking about 30 or 40 people in one place, many of them from out of town. We are also tackling the people who are profiting ffrom thousands of pounds a week from the proceeds of crime."

 

Author:?

Date:21 October 2007

Source: The Argus http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/d...nnabis_cafe.php

Copyright:Newscrest Media Group

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[Pam]

Damn...And I thought Americans were bad!

[jojothepotfiend]

I'm just happy that fortress' still have a place in the modern world

 

[Tom]

Here's a bit more on it:

 

'Cannabis cafe' puts up the barricades

 

 

The downgrading of cannabis to a class C drug has led to a series of cannabis cafés opening across Sussex. Police have faced an uphill battle trying to close these illegal premises.

 

Reporter Miles Godfrey visited an alleged cannabis café in Lancing raided by officers only last week and found a steely determination to defy the authorities.

A cafe which police believe is being used to sell cannabis has reopened after new defences were installed.

 

Officers smashed their way into the building in Freshbrook Road, Lancing, on October 11 using a two-tonne tractor.

 

They demolished a wall as they ripped a window from its frame and allegedly caused about £20,000 damage to the building and its interior.

 

However in a show of defiance, the café's operators have rebuilt the wall, fortified the building and reopened for business in under five days.

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The Argus gained exclusive access to the café and inspected the new defences. They include:

# Military razor wire.

 

# Reinforced steel girders used as height-restriction barriers to prevent tall vehicles gaining access.

 

# Steel posts and concretefilled tyres surrounding the building.

 

A spokesman for the owner, who did not want to be identified, said: "We are back up and running. We were within days of the police raid."

 

The people who run the café, which has also been fully repaired and redecorated inside, claimed the police's "heavyhanded"

 

tactics in smashing through the wall could have led to serious injuries.

 

One said: "We don't believe they did a proper health and safety check before the raid.

 

They have claimed that the building had a steel structure but it doesn't. It could have easily collapsed completely with everyone inside it.

 

"As it was, people did get minor injuries, bumps and bruises and one woman suffered an asthma attack. We are worried about what tactics the police are going to use next."

 

Those inside the building said they were horrified when officers pulled down the wall.

 

One said: "It was like something out of a Bruce Willis film.

 

Somebody could have easily been very badly hurt or even killed."

 

Police said they found a "quantity" of cannabis during the raid. Those at the café claim less than four grammes was discovered, an amount they said did not warrant the raid.

 

The spokesman said: "The police caused about £20,000 damage inside and out during the operation. They employed numerous officers, hired a tractor and for what? They only found four grammes of cannabis so what was the point?"

 

Officers also found £2,000 in cash on the premises during the raid. The spokesman said the money was from the till and fruit machine and the rest belonged to four different people.

 

A strict over-18s policy remains in force and staff said they operated a strict ban on alcohol.

 

The raid was the latest in a series of battles police have had with similar businesses.

 

Officers have carried out a series of raids across Worthing and Lancing in the last few years as outlets allegedly selling cannabis have sprung up.

 

Many raids have been successful but others, like the one on October 11 in Lancing, turned up only small quantities of cannabis.

 

In August, 2005, more than 40 police officers were involved in a dramatic siege at premises in Victoria Road, Worthing. The officers, including a dozen riot police, forced their way through two 6in-thick reinforced doors using steel-cutting welders and a battering ram.

 

About 30 people were marched outside after police smashed their way into the building, which subsequently closed.

 

There were raids at the nowclosed Quantum Leaf and Bongchuffa cannabis cafés in Rowlands Road, Worthing, in 2003. Pro-cannabis campaigner Chris Baldwin ran the Quantum Leaf café as a "political statement"

 

and in January, 2004, received a six-month jail sentence for supplying cannabis.

 

He served just over six weeks behind bars.

 

The alleged cannabis café in Freshbrook Road has also been raided before.

 

In July this year, officers smashed their way into the building using a battering ram.

 

However they recovered only small qualities of the drug.

 

Thick black smoke was spotted rising from the premises during that raid and the most recent one.

 

Officers believe it may have been cannabis being burnt inside but they have been unable to secure enough evidence to bring charges.

 

Chief Inspector Lawrence Hobbs, Adur district police commander, said police did not want to rush in. He said: "It is early days. We want to gather some evidence, seek some legal advice and listen to how the community want us to deal with it. I do not sense there's any physical threat to residents."

 

However, since February when police first suspected the building was being for drugsmoking, his stance has toughened significantly.

 

He was unapologetic about the damage and said: "There has to be recognition that these types of illegal enterprises will not be tolerated."

 

The latest raid was certainly the most dramatic but it may not be the last.

 

Author: The Argus

Date: Monday 22nd October 2007

Source: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/d..._barricades.php

Copyright: Newsquest Media Group

[Frazz]

Wooo Hooo this is gunna build up to a big showdown, cant wait to see what pigglys will do next ... had to have a laugh on the statement, " staff said they operated a strict ban on alcohol" ... yea cause its such a troubling drug LMAO ..

 

[Frazz]

UPDATE 20 Feb. 2008 ;

 

Is cannabis cafe causing any harm?

By Miles Godfrey

 

When police tried to smash their way into Britain's most fortified cannabis café for a fifth time on Thursday, nobody really expected it to be closed down. Why would they?

 

During previous raids, only five arrests had ever been made, resulting in no prosecutions and only trace amounts of cannabis being recovered.

 

Is it now time for the law to turn a blind eye, asks reporter MILES GODFREY, who has visited the café.

 

There is a tiny room on the first floor of the Lancing cannabis café which is crucial to its existence.

 

The fortifications around the building, in a slip road off Freshbrook Road, include protective tyres, a high-tech CCTV system and heavy steel doors making it look like a nuclear bunker.

 

But it is the 10ft by 10ft room upstairs which is its nerve centre.

 

The only items in this room, which is protected by a steel door, is a small incinerator, a bottle of oxygen and a gas mask.

 

Every time the police raid the café - and on each occasion it has taken at least ten minutes to get past the fortifications - a substantial plume of smoke has been seen coming from the chimney which is connected to the incinerator.

 

Once inside, officers have only ever found tiny quantities of cannabis.

 

Only five arrests have ever been made during the raids - and no prosecutions.

 

The raids have cost thousands of pounds and used up many, many man hours.

 

But the situation has resulted in a stand-off between the police and the café's owners worthy of a scene from a spaghetti western.

 

And while there are many who believe the raids should stop, East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton is not one of them.

 

He is calling for new police powers to ensure officers can close cannabis cafés.

 

Mr Loughton said: "It is a blot on the community.

 

"I have received numerous complaints from those who say there are unsavoury characters hanging about there.

 

"The people who run this place are circumventing the law and I plan to write to the (Home Office) minister to urge him to look into this.

 

"People who run cannabis cafés have got very clever at what they do and know how to avoid police detection.

 

"I don't know what powers would be needed but there must be something done to enable the police to go about their job and shut this place, and others like it, down."

 

The first contact between the police and owners of the café came shortly after it opened in January 2007. Officers visited the premises to seek reassurances it was not being used to smoke cannabis and searched a number of people leaving it.

 

However, by July, police carried out their first raid on the property, battering through a brick wall. A small amount of cannabis was recovered and three arrests made but no charges were ever brought.

 

In October, police redoubled their efforts, using a two-tonne tractor to smash out a window.

 

Two people were arrested on suspicion of money laundering but, again, no charges were brought. Two teenagers received cautions for possession of cannabis.

 

A third "raid" was carried out in November, when officers simply knocked on the door and asked to be let in. No drugs were recovered.

 

The fourth and fifth raids both came within a week of each other this month.

 

On the first, no cannabis was found and no arrests were made.

 

Thursday's raids resulted in no arrests and small amounts of cannabis recovered.

 

A handful of arrests for possession of cannabis have been made by officers stopping and searching people leaving.

 

All have received cautions.

 

Unsurprisingly, the owners of the café and pro-cannabis campaigners take a different view to that of Mr Loughton and the police.

 

They have branded the raids "over the top" and "ludicrous".

 

They claim no hard drugs are ever taken on the premises, that alcohol is drunk and that nobody under 18 is allowed in.

 

In short they believe the café should be left alone.

 

A spokesman said: "In the grand scheme of things there are far better things the police could be doing with their time and resources.

 

"There are real criminals out there.

 

There are drunks causing mayhem as they come out of the pubs.

 

"Nobody here causes any trouble.

 

People come here to relax and have a smoke."

 

Indeed the atmosphere in the café is relaxed. Chess boards are on low coffee tables.

 

Its walls are lined with books and magazines and customers lounge on comfy sofas.

 

The spokesman added: "The people who come are not criminals. They are largely middle class, largely very intelligent people who want to mix with other like-minded people."

 

Cannabis smoker and Worthing resident Chris Baldwin, who has stood for election in Sussex as a pro-cannabis candidate, said: "I think they should leave them alone. It's been proved that the raids aren't working.

 

"It is a total waste of police time and resources tackling something which is causing nobody any harm."

 

However Chief Inspector Lawrence Hobbs, Adur District Commander, is resolute in his belief that the raids will continue and the café will be tackled.

 

His firm belief comes despite telling The Argus that he is largely not concerned with people smoking small amounts of cannabis "in their own front rooms".

 

However, he believes that large-scale sale of drugs not only fuels other crime but also causes wider problems of antisocial behaviour.

 

Chief Insp Hobbs said: "Adur police have had a number of complaints from the public in relation to antisocial behaviour and we know there is a clear and direct link with this type of behaviour and cannabis.

 

"We will continue to take positive action to put a stop to this long-running problem for businesses and residents."

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/generalnews...ng_any_harm.php

 

, familiar tune ?

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

Wonderful, call the police and tell them a lone man is hanging around a playground, and ya told they can do nothing unless he breaks the law. Fair enough, but when pot is concerned, tens of thousands of dollars are thrown away because

 

"I have received numerous complaints from those who say there are unsavoury characters hanging about there.

 

Reading all that reminded me of when I started growing. I lived in a house in the bush at end of a long driveway and when I harvested every year, I'd keep the fireplace rageing around the clock for weeks..the pipes glowed red; until it was all dried and put away buried

 

I love their style. Hope they keep it up

 

cheers

rob

[pipeman]

Mr Loughton said: "It is a blot on the community.

 

"I have received numerous complaints from those who say there are unsavoury characters hanging about there.

 

yes that sounds like a serious problem.

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

Hey pipeman, you don't suppose they actually meant the cops do ya?

 

rob

[Pam]

Good one Rob!