3:20pm Friday 21st November 2008
A cannabis farming operation has been found in a home owned by a former councillor and rented out to tenants.
A house belonging to former Merton Park Independent councillor Jillian Ashton was found to contain a crop of fully grown cannabis plants when the police raided the address last month.
Mrs Ashton, who served on the council between 2002 and 2006, is understood to have been renting out the house in Sandbourne Avenue for more than six months.
The former councillor was entirely unaware that the property was being used to grow the plants, and did not want to comment on the story.
A passerby who witnessed the raid said: “I saw policemen everywhere - it was a surprise to see them on such a quiet residential street. There were about half a dozen officers, a van and a couple of police cars.”
PC Neil Wilkins, of Merton Park safer neighbourhood team, confirmed that a house in Sandbourne Avenue had been raided on the evening of October 31.
He said that the police had acted after a tip off from residents. The top floor of the house was found to contain a large number of fully mature cannabis plants, as well as sophisticated heating and lighting systems.
No-one was in the building when it was raided, and no arrests have been made in relation to the discovery.
Borough Commander Chris Bourlet said Merton Police were working to tackle cannabis factories in Merton, which are often run by criminal gangs linked to people trafficking and money laundering.
“The big concern is organised crime networks who are behind these operations, but we are backed up by colleagues at Scotland Yard and elsewhere,” he said.
“It’s often the case that people renting out the house are completely unaware of what’s happening. We do advise landlords to check who they’re renting their property to and, if they have any doubts, to contact us.”
Last year, three cannabis farms were raided in Britain every day, according to charity Drugscope. The same organisation reported that in London alone 50 farms were discovered through house fires caused by re-wiring of electricity supplies to power growing equipment and lights.
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