Police in raid on drug factory

Dec 1 2005 By Neil Elkes, Birmingham Mail

POLICE raided a major drugs factory after passers-by noticed an overpowering smell of cannabis in the street.

Officers from Sutton Coldfield Police Station pinpointed the house following the strong aroma of drugs in Gravelly Lane, Erdington.

In a raid, called Operation Curve, they burst into the house and found that two first-floor bedrooms had been converted into a sophisticated drug laboratory.

Officers described the rooms like something from a science fiction movie, lined with aluminium foil from floor to ceiling and a thriving crop of herbal cannabis plants thriving under specialist lights.

A 25-year-old man was arrested and is on police bail following the November 8 raid.

Drug intervention officer PC Bob Dettmer said that the equipment was expertly used to grow a healthy crop.

He said: "The was a huge smell of cannabis in the area and we were able to pinpoint the address and carry out the raid.

"Police look on drug cultivation as a very serious offence and no amount of illegal activity will be tolerated."

He added that cannabis cultivation, dealing and possession is on the rise since the drug was downgraded from a class B to class C drug last January with maximum sentences for possession cut from five to two years in prison.