Lucky find leads to cannabis factory

A receipt in a man's wallet led police to a property in Preston Street last week where they discovered 200 cannabis plants. The plants have now been destroyed.

Officers had initially responded to an ANPR report for a car which was believed to be involved in the supply of drugs. They followed the car until it came to a stop in Eastern Road.

When the car was searched the officers found an [illegal] extendable baton and a sharpened screwdriver so the driver and a passenger were arrested and taken into custody. Upon asking them to turn out their pockets and the contents of their wallets, police found a receipt for items known to be used in cannabis cultivation.

A 22-year-old man, of no fixed address, was arrested on suspicion of illegal entry into the UK and producing a Class B drug (cannabis). He was also charged with abstracting [stealing] electricity – cannabis factories use so much electricity that the mains supply is often tampered with to bypass the meter.

A 31-year-old man from Hove was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in public, abstracting electricity, possessing criminal property and producing a Class B drug (cannabis).