Newmarket drug problem becomes focus for police as cannabis farm uncovered

Newmarket’s drug problem became the focus of national attention on Wednesday when a television news team filmed police officers as they uncovered a cannabis farm in Freshfields.

The officers from Operation Sentinel, Suffolk Police’s dedicated unit trying to disrupt the criminal gangs using the county’s roads for their trade in drugs stopped a car in Higham , just outside the town, at around 12.30pm and during a search found found numerous items they believed were to be used in starting or expanding a cannabis farm, including seed trays, a water tank, a fan and hydroponic liquids and tablets.

They arrested a 41-year-old man, believed to be an Albanian national, on suspicion of involvement in the supply of drugs, driving while disqualified and with no insurance.

The arrest led officers to a flat in Freshfields where, according to a spokesman for Suffolk Police, they found 35 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of around £14,000. The man was later released pending further enquiries.

Speaking to the news crew Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, said he was proud of the unit he had helped to secure extra funding for, but expressed his alarm at the number of Albanian nationals now involved in drugs in his county.

“I’m very concerned about it,” he said.

“I want to make it quite clear, I’m not saying that all Albanian people are bad, because clearly they’re not.

“But the reality is, there is a disproportionate level of Albanian criminal gangs operating in East Anglia and in Suffolk.”

And on Saturday police were at a town nightclub as part of further action to tackle drug taking.

Officers worked with staff at the Ark nightclub to conduct hand drug swabs as a condition of entry.

A total of 229 people were tested and from those, the machine alarm sounded 36 times detecting contamination of drugs.

As a result, 12 searches were carried out using powers under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.