Cannabis farm warning

A letting agent member based in South Lanarkshire has asked that we warn all members to be vigilant as there have been a number of cases in the area involving criminal activity relating to large scale cannabis farming. Unfortunately one of the agent’s properties has recently been used as a cannabis farm causing extensive damage to the property.

Police advised the member that they know of properties managed by four different letting agents in the area which have already been targeted. The police also advised the member that Vietnamese gangs appear to be setting up and running the cannabis farms but the initial applicants are all of Hong Kong/Chinese nationality.

The application/referencing paperwork supplied by the applicant appeared robust and police believe that similar paperwork has been used in other cases and may continue to be used to procure properties in the future.

Members should be vigilant. The risk of falling a victim to this type of crime can be reduced by carefully scrutinising application/referencing paperwork and following the guidance in SAL’s factsheet on tenant referencing.

Police Scotland have a booklet on the SAL website which contains information for members regarding the signs of commercial cannabis cultivation and what steps you can take to protect yourself and your property. This can be found here.

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