Police seize cannabis grow at Mansfield property after tailing “suspicious” car

After breaking into the Wallis Road property - where a wooden bat studded with screws was also found - officers were led to a number of plants by pipework coming from its loft.

On Thursday police - part of a new knife crime team - discovered the drugs after seeing the two suspects coming out of the property - stopping them and questioning them nearby.

Returning to the house, officers found the drugs and the weapon and swiftly arrested both men in the car on suspicion of cannabis cultivation. They remain in custody.

However, after questioning the two men further, yesterday (Friday) police found another well-established cannabis grow in the loft of a Chesterfield property which was linked to one of the suspects.

The new knife crime team - Nottinghamshire Police’s second - is based in Mansfield but can be deployed anywhere in the county and acts on intelligence.

Thursday’s raid in Mansfield came about as a result of a tip-off from a member of the public that the vehicle police stopped had been regularly visiting the address.

The knife crime team works closely with fellow knife crime team members in the city - combining their resources effectively to help keep communities safe.

Police Constable Lee Huffer was among the knife crime team members involved in Thursday's raid.

He said: “It’s another good example of the ongoing proactive work we’re doing to tackle criminality in our communities.

“We are still early in the making as the second knife crime team but as our activity yesterday shows, we are already getting results.

“We are working closely with our colleagues and other force departments to help keep our streets safe by engaging with people while out on proactive patrols and taking enforcement action where necessary.”

The second, Mansfield-based knife crime team has come about as a result of a national police recruitment drive to provide hundreds of extra officers to Nottinghamshire Police’s frontline.

Figures show knife crime in Nottinghamshire reduced by four percent in the year end to September 2020 compared to the previous year.

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