Organised crime gangs in the UK are increasingly using rented flats to set up illegal cannabis farms, seriously endangering the lives of surrounding neighbours. Police warn that the phenomenon is on the rise and is associated with serious consequences, reports Sky News.
According to Greater Manchester Police, primitive methods are often used to bypass electricity meters in order to avoid the high bills that a cannabis farm requires. These illegal interventions create a high risk of fire, putting not only the perpetrators, but also surrounding residents at risk.
“The large amount of energy required for lighting, ventilation and heating of premises means that these electrical interventions are carried out in an unsafe manner and can cause fires in homes,” Inspector Bree Lanyon told Sky News.
Between May 2024 and April 2025, Greater Manchester Police uncovered 402 cannabis farms, and in one operation in the quiet Wythenshawe neighbourhood, a room full of cannabis plants and another room where the drug was dried and packaged for distribution were found. The market value of the drugs was estimated to be in the tens of thousands of pounds.
Outside the apartment, police found that the energy meter had been tampered with.
“We have seen a large number of fires in homes converted into cannabis farms due to unsafe electrical connections. This also poses a serious risk to neighbors,” Lanyon added.
The dangers of these activities were tragically highlighted by the 2024 incident where a 7-year-old child, Archie York, lost his life after an explosion caused by chemicals in a cannabis factory in a residential building. The perpetrator was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Police say gangs often hire “gardeners” to manage the farms. These people take the blame and the punishment, protecting the real people behind the trafficking.
The use of rented accommodation – often through unscrupulous landlords – also makes it harder for authorities to detect criminal activity in time, writes Sky News.
Sky News: Criminal gangs in Britain are using rented houses to set up cannabis farms, endangering the lives of innocent neighbours Read More
