£1.6m cannabis plants seized in Rotherham in power outage crackdown

More than £1.6m worth of cannabis plants have been seized by police in Eastwood, following reports of persistent power cuts linked to cannabis cultivation in the area.
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A resident of Hatherley Road told the local democracy reporting service that she had suffered 13 powercuts in around two weeks, which Northern Powergrid said were due to people making “illegal connections” to the electricity network, “to facilitate cannabis farms”.

South Yorkshire Police teamed up with Rotherham Council to launch Operation Grow in a bid to tackle power outages and cannabis cultivations.

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Since October 1, South Yorkshire Police has executed 17 warrants, made five arrests, seized 1,618 plants worth £1.6million, and secured one conviction, with a further three cases with the Crown Prosecution Service for pre charge advice.Since October 1, South Yorkshire Police has executed 17 warrants, made five arrests, seized 1,618 plants worth £1.6million, and secured one conviction, with a further three cases with the Crown Prosecution Service for pre charge advice.
Since October 1, South Yorkshire Police has executed 17 warrants, made five arrests, seized 1,618 plants worth £1.6million, and secured one conviction, with a further three cases with the Crown Prosecution Service for pre charge advice.
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Since October 1, South Yorkshire Police has executed 17 warrants, made five arrests, seized 1,618 plants worth £1.6million, and secured one conviction, with a further three cases with the Crown Prosecution Service for pre-charge advice.

Police say there have been no further power outages since the endof December 2021.

A report to Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, states: “This has led to the development of Operation Grow – a multi-agency response using police powers under the misuse of drugs act to execute multiple warrants, RMBC powers under the Housing Act to serve prohibition notices and all agencies linking together to form intelligence pictures around problematic landlords.

“Residents’ meetings have been held and a recent online meeting with elected members and MP Sarah Champion was held to discuss the issues.

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“There has also been additional CCTV installed in the area which further supports the initiative.

The report adds that the force is concerned about “vulnerable people being targeted by criminals to sell/cultivate these grows, increasing the risks associated with human trafficking and modern-day slavery.”

Chief Superintendent Stephen Chapman, district commander for Rotherham, told a meeting of the PCC’s public accountability board: “It’s been a real innovative piece of work.

“We’ve obtained four closure notices, which now close those premises down for three months.

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“We’re now starting to tackle the people who have multiple premises, have had multiple cannabis grows, and now the financial work starts

“We’re going to start to take their assets from them under the proceeds of crime act.

“As much as it sounds really good what we do, we’ve only just started.”