Police swoop on cannabis factory in former Derby night club
A FORMER Derby club was allegedly being used as a massive cannabis "factory" before it was shut down by police yesterday.
Officers raided the derelict Remac Club, at the junction of Charnwood Street and Osmaston Road, at 5.30am, finding 431 suspected cannbis plants.
They arrested one 23-year-old Vietnamese man in connection with the crop.
The news comes after the Derby Telegraph revealed that the number of Vietnamese and Chinese-run cannabis factories discovered in Derbyshire has risen by 500% in the past four years.
Police say Far Eastern-organised criminal gangs bring in illegal immigrants to care for hundreds of plants crammed into rented homes.
The reggae and soul club, which shut in December 2006, had already earned notoriety when a gun was fired outside it in August 2005.
The weapon was fired once in the club's foyer and twice on the street.
Now it is boarded up and has smashed windows and graffiti on the wall.
A spokeswoman said police had received an anonymous tip-off about the factory.
She said: "Eleven officers raided the property entering through an insecure rear door. The man in custody was found in the building."
People living and working near the building said they had not suspected what it was being used for.
Simon Ashmore, 38, of Nottingham, works at Bell & Co Insurance Brokers, Charnwood Street, and said he could not imagine how it was done.
He said: "The only people I've ever seen near it were people sitting on the steps by the wooden doorway.
"I've never seen anyone coming in and out and it looks so secure."
Sorina Saitis, 32, of Charnwood Street, said the raid had been a surprise.
She said: "They've managed to keep this very quiet. I haven't seen any movement from there at all."
A Derby judge recently sent out a warning to Vietnamese people they would be sent to prison if they came to this country and became involved in growing cannabis.
Seven cannabis factories run by people of Far Eastern origin were discovered in the county in 2006.
In 2009, police raided 36.
Source: http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Man-held-police-swoop-cannabis-factory/article-1676116-detail/article.html
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