Cozmo
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HUNDREDS of cannabis plants - with an estimated street value of up to £30,000 - have been found dumped in three Croydon streets.
On a bizarre morning, more than 80 identical laundry bags stuffed with the drug were discovered abandoned in quiet residential roads.
Stunned police are now trying to figure out why a gang got rid of such a potentially valuable hoard.
They are sure the plants - which were still embedded in the soil in which they were growing - were dropped under the cover of darkness.
The first stash - an estimated 15 to 20 bags - was found by the side of Richmond Road, in Thornton Heath.
This was at about 9.30am last Thursday by officers from Croydon Council's street cleaning department, Streetscene.
Another 34 bags were then picked up by a separate Streetscene crew,at the junction of Gibson's Hill and Covington Way, in Norbury, at around 11am after a resident phoned the council.
But this team only discovered what they had picked up when they stumbled across another 32 bags at around 2pm from the pavement on Mersham Road, at the junction with Hythe Road, in Thornton Heath.
Having initially thought they had found fly-tipped waste they then opened one of the bags to find the haul of cannabis plants.
Detective Sergeant James Hallums, from Croydon police, admitted it was baffling as to why the bags had not all been dumped together.
And he does not hold out much hope of catching whoever decided to get rid of the drugs.
He said: "It's obviously the remnants of a cannabis factory from somewhere.
"Because it's been left out in the open for some considerable time,probably overnight, and you have had people walking past and looking at it, it's going to limit our chances of finding out where it came from."
The plants were taken away to be destroyed - and DS Hallums is now trying to get to the bottom of why they were so hastily discarded.
He said: "It could be a landlord who has come into his premises and found it totally wrecked or it could be the perpetrators getting rid of evidence because they have moved on somewhere else.Who knows?"
The drugs dumped in Mersham Road were left right outside resident Stephen Rose's front door.
Speaking last Thursday, the 76-year-old said: "It wasn't there yesterday. But at 6.30am when I woke up and looked out it was all there.
"I was wondering what was in the bags because they all look the same. I was even thinking people were giving their clothes away to charity.
"There's some badness going on and rude boys around. It's terrible."
Streetscene's George Meyern hadn't even seen a cannabis plant before helping with the recovery operation.
He said: "I just can't believe the amount of bags that are here. The Streetscene crew found them and asked me to come and have a look.
"They didn't want to touch them. When they told me to look inside one of the bags I could-n't believe it."
Chrissi Russell, deputy team manager for Streetscene in north Croydon, thought the drugs were probably of poor quality and that the gang had tried to disguise the bags as builders' rubble.
Newshawk: CoZmO - 420Magazine.com
Source: icCroydon.co.uk (UK)
Author: Neil Millard
Contact: neilmillard@croydonadvertiser.co.uk
Copyright: 2007 Trinity Mirror Southern Limited
Website: icCroydon for all the latest news
On a bizarre morning, more than 80 identical laundry bags stuffed with the drug were discovered abandoned in quiet residential roads.
Stunned police are now trying to figure out why a gang got rid of such a potentially valuable hoard.
They are sure the plants - which were still embedded in the soil in which they were growing - were dropped under the cover of darkness.
The first stash - an estimated 15 to 20 bags - was found by the side of Richmond Road, in Thornton Heath.
This was at about 9.30am last Thursday by officers from Croydon Council's street cleaning department, Streetscene.
Another 34 bags were then picked up by a separate Streetscene crew,at the junction of Gibson's Hill and Covington Way, in Norbury, at around 11am after a resident phoned the council.
But this team only discovered what they had picked up when they stumbled across another 32 bags at around 2pm from the pavement on Mersham Road, at the junction with Hythe Road, in Thornton Heath.
Having initially thought they had found fly-tipped waste they then opened one of the bags to find the haul of cannabis plants.
Detective Sergeant James Hallums, from Croydon police, admitted it was baffling as to why the bags had not all been dumped together.
And he does not hold out much hope of catching whoever decided to get rid of the drugs.
He said: "It's obviously the remnants of a cannabis factory from somewhere.
"Because it's been left out in the open for some considerable time,probably overnight, and you have had people walking past and looking at it, it's going to limit our chances of finding out where it came from."
The plants were taken away to be destroyed - and DS Hallums is now trying to get to the bottom of why they were so hastily discarded.
He said: "It could be a landlord who has come into his premises and found it totally wrecked or it could be the perpetrators getting rid of evidence because they have moved on somewhere else.Who knows?"
The drugs dumped in Mersham Road were left right outside resident Stephen Rose's front door.
Speaking last Thursday, the 76-year-old said: "It wasn't there yesterday. But at 6.30am when I woke up and looked out it was all there.
"I was wondering what was in the bags because they all look the same. I was even thinking people were giving their clothes away to charity.
"There's some badness going on and rude boys around. It's terrible."
Streetscene's George Meyern hadn't even seen a cannabis plant before helping with the recovery operation.
He said: "I just can't believe the amount of bags that are here. The Streetscene crew found them and asked me to come and have a look.
"They didn't want to touch them. When they told me to look inside one of the bags I could-n't believe it."
Chrissi Russell, deputy team manager for Streetscene in north Croydon, thought the drugs were probably of poor quality and that the gang had tried to disguise the bags as builders' rubble.
Newshawk: CoZmO - 420Magazine.com
Source: icCroydon.co.uk (UK)
Author: Neil Millard
Contact: neilmillard@croydonadvertiser.co.uk
Copyright: 2007 Trinity Mirror Southern Limited
Website: icCroydon for all the latest news
