Information on Loughborough

£41M of Cannabis Seized

Posted on 19/04/2008
P. Klein

cannabis plant

Leicestershire police has charged three local men with drug importation offences as part of an ongoing joint investigation with the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The investigation has seen the seizure of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of £41 million.

Last week in an enforcement operation involving Leicestershire Constabulary, SOCA and HM Revenue and Customs nine people were arrested in Southampton and a further four in Leicester on suspicion of drug trafficking offences.

The enforcement operation saw simultaneous raids in Southampton and Leicester on April 9, timed to coincide with the docking of vessel Abbira, the boat suspected of being used for the importation of the drugs

Of the four people arrested in Leicester, three have now been charged. The fourth has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

All nine people arrested in Southampton have been charged with drug importation offences.

A search of the vessel has so far recovered 419 bales of what is believed to be cannabis resin weighing a total of more than 14.5 tonnes.

The drugs are believed to be worth around £12.5 million to the importer, and have a street value of an estimated £41 million.

Hashish is a product of the cannabis plant composed of the compressed trichomes. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than other parts of the plant such as the buds or the leaves. Psychoactive effects vary significantly between types of hashish but are usually the same as those of other cannabis preparations such as marijuana. Hash is generally prohibited to the same extent as all other forms of cannabis.

It is often a solid or paste-like substance, of varying hardness and pliability, and will soften under heat. Its color can vary from green, black, reddish brown, or most commonly light to dark brown.

It is consumed in much the same way as cannabis buds, used by itself in miniature smoking pipes, vaporized, hot knifed, smoked in a bong or bubbler, or smoked in joints mixed with tobacco, cannabis buds or other herbs.

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