Drugs raid seizes £90k of cannabis from house

Published on Saturday 2 May 2009 11:28

HUNDREDS of cannabis plants with an estimated value of £90,000 have been discovered crammed inside a house in Midlothian by police officers.

Dozens of officers and forensics specialists spent hours searching the large detached house in Matthews Drive, Newtongrange, and discovered around 500 cannabis plants.

The plants were discovered inside the house and within at least one of the property's two garages. No-one is thought to have been inside the house at the time of the search.

Neighbours on the street reportedly alerted police to the property after becoming suspicious about its use.

They say a constant heat emerged from one of the garage doors and the blinds at the front and rear of the property had been drawn for several weeks.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "It's a massive drugs bust, the whole house is full to the top with cannabis and has been used to grow it.

"The postman notified neighbours in the past that the garage door felt really hot – he has to walk past it to get to the front door. A neighbour then got in touch with the police.

"There has been a police van going up and down the street over the past week."

She added: "There were three big police vans and lots of other unmarked police cars as part of the search."

A police spokesman confirmed that officers in Midlothian had carried out an "intelligence-led" search of a property.

He added: "A cannabis cultivation was seized during the search and inquiries are ongoing to trace those responsible."

Another woman who lives on the street but did not want to be named added: "I'm quite shocked. We thought the house was quite strange because the blinds were closed all the time and there was a lot of heat coming from the garage. It was very odd.

"We were all glad when the police came because we wanted them to come and check out the house.

"Now that they have, I think people will be pleased and hopefully this will all get cleared up, and all that nonsense will go away.

"I'm just glad that the police have been pro-active."

She added: "When it was brought to our attention that there was heat coming from the garage, we thought it might be from growing cannabis.

"I think the house was rented and from what I can tell, nobody actually lived in it."