The nightmare of finding a cannabis factory within a private rented sector property became reality for two separate landlords this week in Coventry, it has been reported.

Although an extraordinary statistic by itself, it’s part of a growing trend – 90% of the cannabis used Britain is supplied from farms operating within rented homes and that more than a million plants within them with a street value of £210million are seized by the police each year.

The latest cases in Coventry include a large cannabis farm within a property in the Mayors Croft, Canley area of the city where more than 90 fully-grown plants were discovered and taken away to be destroyed (main image).

Coventry Police says an investigations is ‘ongoing’ but that no arrests have been made.

The second case followed the discovery of several hundred cannabis plants by a letting agent at a property within the city, local local media reports.

Letting agent

A police statements says: “We were called to a cannabis grow which was discovered by a letting agent after forcing entry into the property due to rent arrears.

“The electricity meter was found to be bypassed and approximately 380 cannabis plants were in situ.”

Landlords and letting agents are being urged to watch out for tell-tale signs of cannabis factories including a strong odour coming from the address, covered windows, condensation on the windows, sounds of ventilation and comings and goings at strange times.

The NRLA says that while large-scale cannabis farms used to be the predominant modus operandi for illegal drug cultivators, increasingly they are turning to smaller-scale operations which are easier and cheaper to set up and more difficult to detect.

Pic credit: Coventry Police.