'Cannabis Crooks' Dump 10 Tons Of Soil In Bedroom Of Rented House In London; Cops Seize 400 Plants After Homeowner Discovers 'Drug Factory'

Charles Reeves, a homeowner in North London, returned from his new job in the U.S. to a shocking scene: his family home had been turned into a full-blown cannabis cultivation operation by the people who were renting it from him.

“I turned the lights on and it’s ‘Oh my God, three feet of soil in my bedroom.’ I’m surprised the floors are even withstanding all this stuff,” Reeves told the BBC over the weekend.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The cannabis crooks dumped 10 tons of soil in the family bedroom. The whole place had been transformed into a drug factory. There were holes in the ceiling, wires everywhere, and the stench was overwhelming.”

What Happened

Reeves had advertised the property online as he and his wife prepared to take jobs in the U.S. They were approached by a real estate agent who claimed a family, supposedly working for a London company, was interested in renting their home. Reeves agreed.

Months past and the tenants failed to pay rent, so Reeves decided to go home to see what was going on. Armed with a court order to enter the house, he was greeted by several men, one of whom claimed everything was fine. Within half an hour, the men fled.

It turned out that the “tenants” were scammers and the real estate agent was running a fake site, which was thought to have been part of the scam.

According to the police, this was one of the worst cases of this type of crime they'd ever seen. They seized over 400 cannabis plants from the property, with an estimated street value of hundreds of thousands of British pounds.

As Reeves inspected his nearly destroyed home, he found a sophisticated setup with fans, lights, grow lamps and a ventilation system powered by stolen electricity. Holes had been cut into the ceiling and walls to accommodate the ventilation system.

“We want people to be aware of the risks and to take every precaution when renting out their properties,” Reeves said. “No-one should have to go through what we’ve experienced. Not only was it the fraud, it was a destruction of our home.”

Reeves’ wife Julia agreed. "When you're dealing with property, particularly a home you've been in for nearly 20 years and raised your child in… it's horrific to feel attacked at the core, that inner sanctum, that place of comfort."

Authorities: Cannabis-Connected Scams On The Rise

"The cannabis trade is so lucrative that converting a rented property allows you to produce cannabis plants discreetly and without any evidential link to you," said Allen Morgan, a former police officer and now expert witness in criminal drugs trials. He warned that rental scams linked to cannabis farms are on the rise in the UK.

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Photo: Courtesy of BublikHaus via Shutterstock