Harwich: Officers execute significant cannabis factory raid

Officers acting on intelligence uncovered a significant cannabis cultivation operation after executing a warrant at a property in Dovercourt.

On Monday 23 February, officers entered a property in Marine Parade, where a search revealed five separate grow rooms containing cannabis plants, along with equipment associated with large‑scale production.

Inside, officers found:

• Over 300 cannabis plants across multiple rooms, in various stages of growth.
• Rooms lined with white plastic sheeting, lighting rigs, plastic trays, specialist ducting and filtration systems.
• Several large water tanks, bottles of plant nutrients, and compost bags.

Evidence of poor ventilation, with mould forming on walls and windows and condensation throughout the premises.

Cannabis with a potential wholesale value of between £62,000 and £115,000 was seized.

One room on the first floor contained 67 mature cannabis plants.

Another large room housed 139 juvenile and mid‑stage plants, while additional rooms on the second floor were set up for younger plants or future cultivations.

A shed in the rear garden also contained used filters and discarded growing materials.

Officers noted that all plants appeared to have been hand‑watered and a number of the rooms were operating with active lighting systems when the warrant was executed.

An assessment confirmed the building had been extensively altered to facilitate cultivation, with multiple rooms repurposed specifically for growing drugs.

Enquiries are ongoing to identify those responsible.

PC Mitchel Cooper, of Tendring Neighbourhood Policing Team, led the warrant and said:

“Cannabis production on a large scale presents very real dangers to those who are exploited as part of the drugs trade and causes significant issues for wider communities.
“We will act on intelligence we receive around drug activity in Tendring.
“This intelligence relies on people talking to us, it relies on maintaining a good relationship with our communities in Harwich and across the district.
“The information you provide helps us build up a clear picture of where problems are arising.
“Aside from the harm caused to those exploited to work on cannabis grows, the abstraction of electricity, undertaken to power such grows, presents a very real danger to residents living nearby.
“The bypassing of electricity meters and extensive faulty wiring regularly causes fires.”

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