Cannabis Cultivation Farm Discovered In South Belfast

Police have discovered a cannabis cultivation farm in south Belfast while investigating a burglary.

Detectives were called to the Mealough Road in Carryduff following reports of a burglary.

However, an officer noticed a shed nearby and on closer inspection, found 120 cultivation pots inside aluminium trailers.

Chief Inspector Derek McCamley said: "These trailers had been fitted out with hydroponics – essentially a very hard to control environment with intense heat and water sources to encourage the rapid growth of the plants.

"This tactic is known to cause an outbreak of fire because the factories are not monitored by the criminal but simply left to grow unchecked. This factory has now been shut down thus depriving criminals any opportunity to build another.

"Again officers in Lisburn and Castlereagh would like to thank the member of the public for alerting us to the original burglary. While it was not connected to the cannabis factory, it did give us an opportunity to remove this harmful structure from within the community."

(CD/JP)