Cannabis farm found at ‘cuckooing’ address in Haywards Heath

Police investigating reports of a ‘cuckooing’ address in Haywards Heath discovered evidence of cannabis being grown there.
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Four police cars attended the address in Queen’s Road, Haywards Heath, at around 4pm on Tuesday (July 9).

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Police investigating a report of a cuckooing incident at a property in Haywards Heath have discovered evidence of cannabis being cultivated at the location.

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“A man reported on Monday (July 8), that he had been assaulted by a group of men over the last few weeks and that they had taken over and damaged his home.

Queen's Road in Haywards Heath. Picture: Google Street ViewQueen's Road in Haywards Heath. Picture: Google Street View
Queen's Road in Haywards Heath. Picture: Google Street View

“Officers attended the address and found equipment indicating that cannabis plants had been grown there.

“The investigation is continuing. The victim has moved away.”

Criminal gangs target the homes of vulnerable people to be used for drug dealing – a process known as ‘cuckooing’.

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It means the criminals can operate from a property rather than the street, which is out of sight from the police making it an attractive option.

They can then use the premises to deal drugs from, which is difficult for the police to monitor and they often will only stay for a short period of time.

Dealers often approach the vulnerable person offering free drugs to use their home for dealing or in some instances after providing ‘free’ drugs, will then force the person to deal for them in order to ‘re-pay’ their drug debts.

The criminals are selective about who they target, a lot of the time victims are lonely, isolated, frequently drug users themselves and are already known to the police.