Landlords told to sniff out dope farmers

LANDLORDS are being trained by police to uncover cannabis farms set up in their properties as part of the latest crackdown.

Officers were today set to hold the first Weed Them Out seminar in the Capital in a bid to track down the organised criminals behind the drug cultivations.

The move comes as police smashed another cannabis farm being run from a house in Marionville Road, near Meadowbank Stadium, where drugs worth 90,000 were seized.

Along with 300 plants, a large quantity of equipment used to cultivate cannabis was also discovered by officers at around 4pm on Tuesday.

The landlords and letting companies are being briefed to help spot 'proxies' hired by south-Asian gangs to rent out properties on their behalf.

The proxies are sent to properties which have been on the rental market for some time before offering to pay six months or a year in advance in an effort to deter visits to the homes.

Police chiefs are advising landlords not to fall for these "too good to be true" tenants, and pass details of suspect applicants on to officers.

A number of city landlords have seen their properties destroyed by the gangs, who often strip out furniture and even walls to make room for cannabis plants.

Powerful heaters used to grow the plants have also led to severe dampness and mite infestations in the rented homes, while the high demand placed on electrical supplies have destroyed their wiring.

Around 100 landlords and letting agents have been invited to the seminars, the first being set to be held at the City Chambers today and the second next Friday.

Sergeant Jim McKenna, the force's drugs co-ordinator, said: "These criminal groups rent out private flats or homes, as well as commercial, industrial or agricultural properties. Basically anywhere they can establish these farms.

"Most of the cultivations are associated with south-east Asian groups. But they know we are looking for them."

Three cannabis farms are being busted by police in the Lothians every week, with more than 1.5 million worth of plants seized between April and the end of last year. Gangsters from China, Malaysia and Vietnam are said to be behind the majority of the drug operations.