Five men arrested and cannabis farm uncovered following Winsford burglary

Officers have arrested five men and discovered a cannabis farm following reports of a burglary in Winsford.

Shortly after 3.30am on Monday 15 January police were called to reports of a burglary at an address on Thrush Way. It was reported that three men armed with crowbars and a sledgehammer had forced entry into the property.

Officers were dispatched and as they approached the address a number of men attempted to flee the scene. However, following a search of the area officers located and arrested five men. The men, aged 26, 27, 28, 34 and 40, were all arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

Upon searching the address which had been burgled, officers discovered that it has been converted into a large cannabis farm containing approximatively 75 plants. Officers also found multiple weapons in the house including axes and crowbars.

Following the arrests, Detective Sergeant John Lyons, who is leading the investigation, said:

“This is a fantastic result and I’d like to thank residents for the information they provided. Thanks to them not only have we arrested five men, but we’ve also removed a quantity of illegal drugs from the streets of Winsford.

“The address appears to have been converted into a professional cannabis farm, this wasn’t simply just a few cannabis plants, the whole building had been fitted out with thousands of pounds worth of equipment to maximise the potential yield.

“Thankfully, we were able to seize all of these plants and all of them will now be destroyed to prevent them from being sold on our streets.

“While these men are now in custody, our investigations into the cannabis farm and the burglary remain ongoing, and I urge anyone with any information in relation to them to get in touch.

“The same goes for anyone with any video footage which may aid the investigations.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call Cheshire Police on 101, or at www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us, quoting IML 1734887.