Cannabis worth £300,000 seized as police raid home

CANNABIS worth almost £300,000 has been seized following a raid on an upmarket family home in a Lothian town.

Officers discovered 800 cannabis plants – one of the biggest ever seizures in the Lothians – being grown in a house close to Longniddry Golf Club in East Lothian.

The 650,000 King's Road property was targeted as part of Operation Erase, which aims to target organised criminals and drug dealers in East Lothian.

As well as the plants, cultivation equipment was also seized by officers and two men have been detained in connection with the find.

A police spokesman said: "Operation Erase will continue to target East Lothian's criminal fraternities, and intelligence-led searches such as these will carry on wherever we believe drug production or cultivation is taking place.

"This is a sizeable recovery of cannabis, which will no doubt impact upon these gangs' operations and we are delighted to have taken hold of it before it could circulate into our communities.

"We would like to thank the public for their continued support of Operation Erase and urge anyone with information relating to serious organised crime in their area to contact police immediately."

The seizure is the latest in a string of intelligence-led busts as part of the operation.

Last Wednesday, more than 100 officers carried out early-morning raids on 11 addresses in Musselburgh, leading to several individuals being detained.

The raids follow operations in Midlothian and West Lothian in the last 18 months, where more than 70 people were detained.

Earlier this year the Evening News revealed that three cannabis farms were being raided by police in the Lothians every week.

The number of people being charged with "producing, manufacturing or cultivating" drugs – which are almost wholly cannabis-related – has also quadrupled in the Lothians over the last six years.

Organised gangs from China, Malaysia and Vietnam are believed to be behind the majority of cannabis operations in particular.

However, detectives say they often have links to human trafficking, prostitution, money-laundering, and counterfeit goods.

It is understood that many gangs have moved to Edinburgh and the Lothians following police crackdowns in London, the Midlands, and Merseyside.