Drugs Gang Rent Property from Police Chief!
Following on from yesterday’s post about rental properties used as drugs production centres, a police chief has become a victim of a drugs gang who were renting a house the very purpose.
Rod Jarman, a deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard chose to rent property through a letting agency but even though the usual tenant checks were done, they didn’t highlight any cause for alarm.
The gang used Mr Jarman’s four bedroomed rental property in Essex, worth £400,000, to grow large amounts of skunk plants and in the process caused £50,000 of damage and used £20,000 of electricity to run the lighting system.
Neighbours were concerned about strange noises in the house and contacted Mr Jarman. He visited the property and found the evidence of his green-fingered tenants who had since disappeared. There was also signs of a break-in most likely from a rival gang.
He said that despite “31 years’ experience of policing” he didn’t see it coming.
Each year, police find approximately 20 cannabis factories each day in England and Wales, some of which are housed in property lettings just like Mr Jarman’s. That amounts to 1.3 million plants worth £150 million seized altogether.
Cannabis production is now such big business in Britain (aided by the recession causing many empty properties such as cinemas, offices, houses, shops and pubs) that gangs export the surplus to Europe.
Look out for blacked-out windows, condensation, hot walls or strange smells and noises.
