Cannabis factories are everywhere. Literally everywhere. This has been shown in the last couple of weeks with a discovery of a cannabis factory in Legoland (Legoland for Christ's sake!) and another in an abandoned nuclear bunker.
Obviously it wasn't a new attraction that Legoland were trialing, it was a remote outhouse on their land, but it was there all the same.
More often than not, however, cannabis factories are found in normal suburban homes. Tending to be more prevalent in either council, housing association or privately rented houses which have been acquired using fake or stolen identities. Sometimes the details of the vulnerable are used to acquire the properties. The electricity will be bypassed to hide the excessive usage. Usually in a rather dangerous manner I might add. These properties are very much in demand by regular families at a time where housing is at such a great shortage in London. Instead they are used to grow cannabis.
Criminal gangs are said to make about £250,000 from each of the small suburban factories a year. And they have plenty of them. It is accepted that one by one they will be discovered, so new ones are constantly popping up to make up for any loss. Due to the high profits made, the loss of a single harvest and all the equipment involved is insignificant.
I've discovered many of these myself. Normally the door is forced and you will hear a frantic scurry from inside. Upon entry you will find a rear window open and a poor fellow darting away across the rear gardens. Occasionally you find these people asleep or simply waiting for police in amongst the plants. These guys are not the criminal masterminds. They are usually vulnerable people, or persons whom have entered the country illegally. In return for a place to stay and a pitiful wage they are paid to take care of the plants by the gangs.
Occasionally somebody will set up a mini cannabis factory in their own residence in order to supplement their income or feed their own habit. Twice (TWICE!) I have attended addresses where the occupant has wished to make some sort of allegation. They have called police to their home themselves! A quick whiff inside and an experienced copper knows exactly what is behind one of those shut bedroom doors. So twice I have been called by somebody to help them with something only to end up arresting them for cultivating cannabis. As I hinted at earlier, these people are not always criminal masterminds.
I've spoken before about the problems with relatively harmless drugs such as cannabis being illegal. These factories are everywhere, and even in the most surprising of places (for example Legoland). They are filling the coffers of criminal gangs with millions and millions of pounds every year and I hasten to guess that their profits aren't being donated to Cancer Research.
For every cannabis factory police find and shut down, another two pop up. So, the question remains, are you living next door to a factory?
Anonymous Bobby
Showing posts with label gang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gang. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2017
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Anonymous Bobby and the Naked Man
Being a police officer in London one is regularly surprised with how many people one encounters entirely in the buff. It really is more common than you would ever believe.
It was a brisk Sunday morning, approaching 0730 hours and I was on patrol with David (the same David I was working with in 'The Swinging Man' blog). The birds were singing away and David and I were discussing what to get for breakfast. The radio, rather rudely in my opinion, interrupted us and informed us that an elderly lady had called stating there was a naked man stood outside her house. David and I gave each other a knowing look and accepted the call.
Minutes later we were pulling into the quiet cul-de-sac. Sure enough a young man, probably aged about 25 years, was stood outside a detached bungalow, completely naked, and standing in a pose as if he were a footballer in a defensive wall, defending a free kick.
I exited the vehicle and approached. "You alright mate?" I asked. "Do I look alright?" he retorted. He had me there. It was a stupid question, but how does one engage with a male stood stark bollock naked on a fine morning in suburban London?
David and I were hesitant with him. The circumstances would suggest he was having a mental health breakdown. As I approached I saw that he had several large burns on his body. I could make out the exact pattern of the heat pad of an iron on his skin. This told me everything I needed to know in an instant. He had been kidnapped, held against his will and tortured. Most likely for information, money or recrimination.
The old lady who had called us brought out a blanket and wrapped it around the poor chap and we took him to hospital. As it turned out, and unsurprisingly, he was not particularly fond of the police and did not want to enthrall us with the tale of his undoing. He was incredibly well known to police and known to associate with violent gangs. He had been kidnapped from another part of London the previous night by a rival gang.
There isn't too much you can do but record an incident like that, without any cooperation and not knowing the full circumstances of what has occurred.
What was worse was that David and I had completely gone off the idea of breakfast.
Anonymous Bobby
It was a brisk Sunday morning, approaching 0730 hours and I was on patrol with David (the same David I was working with in 'The Swinging Man' blog). The birds were singing away and David and I were discussing what to get for breakfast. The radio, rather rudely in my opinion, interrupted us and informed us that an elderly lady had called stating there was a naked man stood outside her house. David and I gave each other a knowing look and accepted the call.
Minutes later we were pulling into the quiet cul-de-sac. Sure enough a young man, probably aged about 25 years, was stood outside a detached bungalow, completely naked, and standing in a pose as if he were a footballer in a defensive wall, defending a free kick.
I exited the vehicle and approached. "You alright mate?" I asked. "Do I look alright?" he retorted. He had me there. It was a stupid question, but how does one engage with a male stood stark bollock naked on a fine morning in suburban London?
David and I were hesitant with him. The circumstances would suggest he was having a mental health breakdown. As I approached I saw that he had several large burns on his body. I could make out the exact pattern of the heat pad of an iron on his skin. This told me everything I needed to know in an instant. He had been kidnapped, held against his will and tortured. Most likely for information, money or recrimination.
The old lady who had called us brought out a blanket and wrapped it around the poor chap and we took him to hospital. As it turned out, and unsurprisingly, he was not particularly fond of the police and did not want to enthrall us with the tale of his undoing. He was incredibly well known to police and known to associate with violent gangs. He had been kidnapped from another part of London the previous night by a rival gang.
There isn't too much you can do but record an incident like that, without any cooperation and not knowing the full circumstances of what has occurred.
What was worse was that David and I had completely gone off the idea of breakfast.
Anonymous Bobby
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
We Need to Talk About Knife Crime
When I woke up this morning I did what most people do nowadays. I reached for my phone. Browsing the news I saw the Headline: 'Teenager Stabbed to Death in London'. Again.
So another young man has had his life prematurely ended due to knife crime in London. A 15 year old boy, yards from his school in Kensal Green.
I've seen the effects of knife crime. On several occasions I have been the first person to arrive at somebody who has been stabbed and administered the essential first aid required. I've looked down at a 15 year old boy dead in the street, having been stabbed to death, knowing that no amount of first aid will help him. I've collected the parents of a youth and driven them to hospital on blue lights as their child fights for their life.
Why this boy from Kensal Green was stabbed to death is not yet clear. In truth it is often puzzling why young people choose to stab others to death. Often, the stabbings that occur are in the leg, arm or buttocks. This is because the perpetrators believe it to be less life threatening. Not because they don't want to kill, but because they do not want the punishment and extensive investigations that follow a murder. Murders are VERY rarely unsolved in London these days.
Ask yourself, why do young people carry knives? Ask them and the answer is often self protection. That's a cop out, frankly. In the simplest terms it is idiocy. There are plenty of people who make it their life's goal to inform these young people of the dangers of carrying a knife and committing street crime. The truth is that in their juvenile, immature minds they think it is clever. When I was a teenager I thought I had the world sussed. I thought I knew more than anybody else and that I was always right. Maybe you did too? These teenagers are no different. There is a reason that these victims are not generally 30/40 years old, having been stabbed coming out of work by a fellow adult.
In my experience some victims are not always as innocent as they are portrayed by family and the press after a murder. I know of several instances where the victim has led a gang and crime fuelled life before succumbing to murder by a rival or enemy. Even as a youth we should collectively highlight any errors or misjudgments these juveniles make which cause them to be killed. To deter others from such choices. Nobody deserves to be murdered, at all, but it is a fact that some choices can increase the likelihood of such violence happening to you. Of course many victims are completely innocent. But I have experienced several cases where the victims lifestyle has led to their inexcusable murder.
I have also met one or two incredible parents of murdered youths. They rally their communities and campaign, as more should do, to stop knife crime and gang culture on the streets of London. These people should be heralded.
Somewhere along the line someone will blame the police. It is inevitable. There is a long line of people who are responsible for such acts before you get to the police, with the perpetrator at the front of the queue.
I don't have any answers, I'm afraid. Knives are readily available and if a youth truly wants to carry one, or worse use one, then it is hard to stop them. Stop and search is constantly criticised and clearly unpopular, so how else do the police get knives off the street?
Yesterday a 15 year old boy was murdered on the streets of London. This is a tragedy. At least one family is going to be ripped apart because of some bad decisions and a horrendous act. Tell a youth what to do and they are likely to do the opposite. Because they know best. Just like you and I did.
Anonymous Bobby
So another young man has had his life prematurely ended due to knife crime in London. A 15 year old boy, yards from his school in Kensal Green.
I've seen the effects of knife crime. On several occasions I have been the first person to arrive at somebody who has been stabbed and administered the essential first aid required. I've looked down at a 15 year old boy dead in the street, having been stabbed to death, knowing that no amount of first aid will help him. I've collected the parents of a youth and driven them to hospital on blue lights as their child fights for their life.
Why this boy from Kensal Green was stabbed to death is not yet clear. In truth it is often puzzling why young people choose to stab others to death. Often, the stabbings that occur are in the leg, arm or buttocks. This is because the perpetrators believe it to be less life threatening. Not because they don't want to kill, but because they do not want the punishment and extensive investigations that follow a murder. Murders are VERY rarely unsolved in London these days.
Ask yourself, why do young people carry knives? Ask them and the answer is often self protection. That's a cop out, frankly. In the simplest terms it is idiocy. There are plenty of people who make it their life's goal to inform these young people of the dangers of carrying a knife and committing street crime. The truth is that in their juvenile, immature minds they think it is clever. When I was a teenager I thought I had the world sussed. I thought I knew more than anybody else and that I was always right. Maybe you did too? These teenagers are no different. There is a reason that these victims are not generally 30/40 years old, having been stabbed coming out of work by a fellow adult.
In my experience some victims are not always as innocent as they are portrayed by family and the press after a murder. I know of several instances where the victim has led a gang and crime fuelled life before succumbing to murder by a rival or enemy. Even as a youth we should collectively highlight any errors or misjudgments these juveniles make which cause them to be killed. To deter others from such choices. Nobody deserves to be murdered, at all, but it is a fact that some choices can increase the likelihood of such violence happening to you. Of course many victims are completely innocent. But I have experienced several cases where the victims lifestyle has led to their inexcusable murder.
I have also met one or two incredible parents of murdered youths. They rally their communities and campaign, as more should do, to stop knife crime and gang culture on the streets of London. These people should be heralded.
Somewhere along the line someone will blame the police. It is inevitable. There is a long line of people who are responsible for such acts before you get to the police, with the perpetrator at the front of the queue.
I don't have any answers, I'm afraid. Knives are readily available and if a youth truly wants to carry one, or worse use one, then it is hard to stop them. Stop and search is constantly criticised and clearly unpopular, so how else do the police get knives off the street?
Yesterday a 15 year old boy was murdered on the streets of London. This is a tragedy. At least one family is going to be ripped apart because of some bad decisions and a horrendous act. Tell a youth what to do and they are likely to do the opposite. Because they know best. Just like you and I did.
Anonymous Bobby
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)