8000 cannabis plants in cottage

[loylty gets u nothing]

this is a cut n pate i found today

 

 

MACCLESFIELD police have discovered what is believed to be one of Britain’s largest ever cannabis factories – housing EIGHT THOUSAND plants worth about £½m – in a weaver’s cottage in the town centre.

 

Officers routinely attending a blaze on Saturday lunchtime at the Georgian three-storey rented semi on sleepy Bridge Street – just 400 yards away from Brunswick Street Police Station – were stunned by the enormity of the operation and are still reeling from their find.

 

They were confronted by a triple-tiered indoor drug farm stuffed to the walls and ceilings with cannabis bushes – placed in methodical order from saplings to fully fledged plants all nurtured under a sprawling complicated network of heat lamps.

 

"It was," according to Macclesfield police Inspector Gareth Woods, "the perfect cannabis factory."

 

It was also a disaster of epic proportions waiting to happen. For if the fire brigade had not been alerted and they had not arrived so promptly the entire property at Birch House could have exploded causing widespread havoc in a densely populated area. "This could have been a major incident in Macclesfield had the fire service not been there in time," Inspector Woods said last night. "The consequences of a blast, taking into the account the intricate electrical wiring system, would have been catastrophic. It would have gone up like a bomb."

 

As it is the police are left to unravel the mystery of the Cannabis Cottage and track down the operators, believed to be an organised gang, who were poised, after 18 months of pain-staking management, to seize a fortune from their harvested plants. The street value of the haul is said to be around £½m.

 

Today (Wednesday) thousands of cannabis plants are expected to be gathered up and taken away and destroyed after forensic experts have inspected the property and taken photographs of crucial evidence. And with a touch of irony 150 bags of uncontaminated soil were handed over to the borough council to be used in the town’s parks.

 

Meanwhile, the gang who ran the operation, will be counting their losses since cultivating cannabis has become the craze of the underworld. "We are seeing a shift in criminal actiivity because of the confusion of the class of cannabis which is C. Villains see it as less risk in terms of prison sentence if they get caught," Insp Woods. "It is high time something was done."

 

Police are baffled as to how such a major criminal operation managed to run for so long without neighbours seemingly suspecting a thing. First there was the stench of the distinctive aroma of marjuana and then there was the sheer volume of energy being pumped into the property to power the heat lamps.

 

"It is startling that the electricity suppliers didn’t smell a rat," said Insp Woods. "There must have been more power generated into that small property than all of Macclesfield put together!"

 

Described by police as a "highly-sophisticated set up", thousands of plants were being cultivated in batches over three floors of the house, at various stages of growth.

 

The basement, where the fire broke out, contained dozens of bags of solid fertiliser, while more fertiliser liquids lined the stairs. Firefighters from the specialist hazardous materials unit at Warrington, with protective suits and decontamination facilities, were scrambled to the scene to help tackle the situation.

 

They joined crews from Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Congleton and spent almost nine hours battling the blaze and making the structure safe for crime scene investigators. Although no-one was in the building when the emergency services arrived, cops found "living quarters" on the first floor, littered with recent newspapers, and there was fresh food in the fridge.

 

While the fire caused significant damage to the basement and entrance hall, the plants – housed in eight rooms throughout the factory – were untouched by the flames. The rear of the ground floor was being used as a "nursery" for small seedlings divided over two rooms, while the first floor had five separate rooms for more developed plants.

 

On the top floor, detectives found older, larger plants, and an irrigation system of barrels, hosepipes and water containers. All rooms had sophisticated lighting and heating systems, fed with power from the basement.

 

Detective Stef Hever, leading the investigations, said the high levels of electricity required for the system led to an overload at the power supply, and the fire broke out,

 

Retired nurse Pauline Scott, 63, of Bridge Street, was on the phone to her daughter when the fire took hold across the road.

 

The mum-of-two said: "I heard a crackling and a snapping sound. I thought it was coming from the garden. I looked out of the front door, and saw Birch House was on fire. There was smoke coming out of the basement.They cut the electricity across the road, and it went off in my house too until about 7pm. There were police and firemen coming and going until about 11.30pm."

 

Bachelor Peter Riddlesworth, 61, of Newton Street, was taking a walk on Bridge Street when he saw the emergency crews. He said: "There was black smoke coming out of the doorway. Firemen went in with breathing apparatus, and the whole street was blocked off. People were waiting at the police line, because they weren’t allowed to get to where their cars were parked!"

 

No arrests have been made at the time of going to press, and investigations are ongoing.

 

Source: Macclesfield Express

Copyright: 2008, Macclesfield Express

Contact: Pete Bainbridge

Website:8,000 cannabis plants found in town cottage - News - Macclesfield Express

[SukonmiSkunk]

not a bad effort...

[Reverend]

"It was," according to Macclesfield police Inspector Gareth Woods, "the perfect cannabis factory."

 

Not that perfect. Can't trust those sparky's.

Gills

[jimbojones5678]

that looks like a LOT of work...

[lightning]

can any one tell me how a hydro setup could "explode"

 

since when growers been using bang bang to grow plants, unless the idiots where stockpiling ammonium nitrate never a smart move, little spark big bang.

[Ozzy420]

Nice lil grow that one...

[brick]

can any one tell me how a hydro setup could "explode"

 

since when growers been using bang bang to grow plants, unless the idiots where stockpiling ammonium nitrate never a smart move, little spark big bang.

Either the fertiliser or the cabelling overheated. Massive current draw with all that equipment.

[mullray]

Ouch, that has to hurt. Bloody hell!!

 

Ammonian nitrate requires diesel and a detonator to go boom!!! Big boom too

[lightning]

I understand the overload thing , most likely some idiot left a length of extension lead coiled up when it was plugged in to lights The coil forms inductor generates heat bursts into flames but that 'WILL NOT CAUSE EXPLOSION. only a fire.

 

QUOTE

It was also a disaster of epic proportions waiting to happen. For if the fire brigade had not been alerted and they had not arrived so promptly the entire property at Birch House could have exploded causing widespread havoc in a densely populated area. "This could have been a major incident in Macclesfield had the fire service not been there in time," Inspector Woods said last night. "The consequences of a blast, taking into the account the intricate electrical wiring system, would have been catastrophic. It would have gone up like a bomb."

END QUOTE

 

As usual the "prohibitionists" statements were completely exagerated and over the top. unless there was a major stockpile ie >500 kilo of fertilizer unless it was mixed with fuel oil would not cause an explosion that would cause "catastrophic wide spread havoc". it is not like it was a meth lab full of tens of litres of volatile aromatics

ammonium nitrate will explode without diesel but no where near as big. in a fire it will go bang but NOT catastrophic type so utter bullshit as usual

Edited April 10, 2008 by lightning

[mullray]

Maybe all the plants were heavily seeded and the fire could have really set off a very nasty snap crackle pop chain reaction leading to the splitting of the atom and hence a big bloody hole caused by China syndrome, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the planet and life as we know it.

 

Hey Lightening you're starting to sound like Chairman Mao with the prohibitionist propaganda statements - love it!!!

 

I'd be damned upset if that were my lot, I'll tell you. What a waste. Hope the buggers decide to onsell it out the back door of the cop shop.