2,000 cannabis plants uncovered at £2.4m Chester country mansion

Oct 1 2009 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

A CANNABIS factory has been uncovered during a police raid on a £2.4m four-storey country mansion just outside Chester.

The setting, at the end of a long drive with sprawling 3.7 acre grounds, could be the setting for a period drama but the line of police cars outside on Tuesday told a different story.

Behind the grand red brick facade of Field House, on Mannings Lane in Hoole Village, criminals had been growing 2,000 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of up to £500,000 in seven rooms of the mansion.

An unsophisticated system of hosepipes linked to the kitchen sink scaled the staircase and windows were blacked out, plunging the upstairs into darkness.

A criminal gang had rented the house - lying next to Cheshire County Sports Club and 300m away from the Hammond School of Performing Arts - and turned it into a factory for large-scale production of illicit drugs.

It was raided at dawn on Tuesday when 15 officers came from a farmer’s field to surround the building. No arrests were made as the building was deserted.

DS Ian Morgan from Cheshire Police said information came after a find on September 4 in Nether Alderley when police raided a £1m home housing more than 1,000 plants worth about £150,000. A 50-year-old Vietnamese woman was arrested at the scene.

He added: “The whole of the top floor is taken over for the production of cannabis. There are thousands of plants. It’s been well established.”

Forensic teams moved in to conduct examinations before the plants were removed and destroyed. Officers found abducted electricity and modified lighting, ventilation and watering equipment tangled around bannisters, and empty beer cans in the lounge.

DS Morgan added: “They’ve aimed big. You look at the amount of production they’ve got and I’m sure the profits will pay for the lease.

“They’ve been using downstairs as living quarters – there were some makeshift camp beds and the basement has been used as a drying room.

“It wasn’t till you got upstairs that you noticed the smell.

“It’s a massive operation. There’s not been anybody here for a couple of weeks. There’s rotten food.

“Because it was linked to other addresses that we searched, they probably knew we were coming.”

The house is set in 3.7 acres of private grounds and even has its own tennis court.

It boasts three reception rooms, a kitchen with an Aga, breakfast room, butler’s pantry, cellar, games room, eight bedrooms and three bathrooms.

There is also a converted coach house with three bedrooms and outbuildings at the back.

Cheshire police inspector Phil Hodgson said each crop, which takes three months to grow, could sell for up to £500,000. He added: “It was a very sophisticated operation. We’ve disrupted an organised crime ring.”

Cheshire police spokeswoman Shelley Williams said: “This incident is part of a force-wide focus upon disrupting and curtailing illegal drug production.

“We rely on vital information from the public to successfully disrupt drug distribution such as this. Anyone who has any information in relation to drug activity should contact Cheshire Police on 0845 458 0000.

“Large scale drug activity will not be tolerated and we deal with it in a robust manner.”