Only international co-operation between official agencies can stop illegal cannabis farms such as the one recently raided by police in Norwich, according to the judge overseeing a case against two Albanian men who had been recruited by a gang.
That this is seen as the ‘only’ solution given that international co-operation ie the ‘War on Drugs’ has failed for years is myopic at the very least. The real solution is a legalised, regulated market.
Police raided the premises, a 6,000sq ft warehouse, on July 25 and found nearly 1,000 cannabis plants. The electricity to the unit had been bypassed to power heating and lighting for the plants, which were in various stages of growth.
The two men, who tried to escape onto the roof, had been recruited by a gang and put under pressure to work as gardeners for the commercial drug operation. One had been brought to the country to pay off a debt. They are victims of the gang and the overall system. They have been sentenced to six months in jail and told they are likely to be deported – a fundamentally inhumane punishment but also a futile one given the likelihood that they could come back on new fake passports.
(Picture: Norfolk Police)
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