Police find two cannabis farms
2:20pm Thursday 22nd May 2008
TWO large-scale cannabis farms were uncovered by police yesterday as part of a major drugs operation in Bury.
Officers carried out a series of dawn strikes on 11 homes across the borough yesterday and on Monday.
Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of either cultivating, supplying or possessing drugs.
Operation Alligator was the result of months of covert surveillance and intelligence gathering as part of National Tackling Drugs Week which aims to disrupt the sale and use of drugs in local communities.
Cannabis farms were discovered in Brandlesholme Road, Bury, and at an address in George Road, Ramsbottom. Hundreds of plants and cultivating equipment, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, were seized by police.
The homes of known dealers were also targeted. Raids were carried out by Tactical Aid Unit teams at Plover Drive, Goldfinch Drive, Canning Street and Goodlad Street, all Bury, Coronation Road and Kilburn Road, Radcliffe, Polefield Circle in Prestwich and at Dudley Avenue, Whitefield. More homes in the borough are due to be raided today and tomorrow.
The properties are among the homes of more than 100 drug dealers across Greater Manchester being targeted over the course of this week.
Inspector Charlotte Cadden, from Bury Police's intelligence unit, said: "The use and sale of drugs causes devastating effects, which have far-reaching consequences. It can be quite surprising how many crimes committed relate back to drugs, from robberies on the street to in extreme cases, murder.
"Throughout this week, we are focusing our activity on taking drugs off the streets by targeting the dealers who spread these dangerous substances. Our action is largely thanks to the help of members of the public who have provided us with information regarding the activities of dealers or the whereabouts of cannabis farms."