Landlords warned as raid reveals cannabis factory in housing estate

Plants worth an estimated £115,000 were taken from a house in the Deramore Heights area of Magherafelt on Thursday afternoon after tip-offs from locals.

Police said the home was a fire risk after electricity supplies were tampered with and it was full of fans, heaters and water supplies to cultivate the drugs.

Detective Inspector Trevor Stevenson said: “You have a great potential for destruction of property, serious injury, even death.”

The raid was carried out by officers from the PSNI’s Reactive and Organised Crime Branch and they praised the support from the local community which led to the factory being discovered and dismantled.

No arrests have been made. Detailed forensic analysis of the home and investigations are continuing.

Following the successful raid the PSNI warned landlords that drugs gangs can set up a cannabis factories in rooms, sheds and even the back of trailers or use an entire house for a farm.