Removal van sent to scene of Bradshawgate cannabis farm

A REMOVAL van was needed in Bolton town centre yesterday to dispose of £1m worth of illegal cannabis plants.

A search was conducted on the morning of August 11 at the former Williams BMW premises on Bradshawgate.

Initial investigations found 11 rooms containing cannabis plants, and evidence that people were living there, including beds, clothes and food.

Yesterday police officers once again descended on the scene to remove dozens of bags of the drug.

This came after electricians visited the premises to carry out safety work due to the large amount of wiring surrounding the plants.

Now that they have been removed, they will be sent to a laboratory for analysis before being destroyed.

Nearby traders say they had “no idea” such a large-scale cannabis farm was operating just a stone’s throw away.

Parts of the ground floor of the old Williams BMW garage had been split into separate shop units.

For a time, parts of the premises had been used as a Chinese supermarket, florists and for storage.

One onlooker said: “It comes to something when you have to use a removal van to take the stuff away.

“They were bringing out literally bags and bags of plants. You could smell the cannabis a mile off.”

Police vans and patrol cars have been stationed on Bradshawgate and to the rear of the old garage since the drugs farm discovery was made.

Greater Manchester Police say that no arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident.

Insp Helen Chadwick, of Greater Manchester Police’s District Intelligence Unit, said at the time: “Locating a cannabis farm of this scale is a fantastic result for our officers who work hard to crack down on drug-related crime in the area.

“Our Bolton Action Team, which led on the raid, focuses on the execution of warrants and tasks reacting to intelligence led crimes and district threats.

“This was a very well equipped, large cannabis farm likely involving a number of people at different levels of the drug supply chain.

“We hope that this find significantly disrupts the supply of cannabis in the area, ultimately making our local communities safer.”

Anyone with information should call police quoting incident number 3127 of Wednesday, August 11.

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