Marijuana farm in Kowloon City flat
Police yesterday uncovered an indoor marijuana farm in a Kowloon City flat after a tip-off.
They found 400 fully grown plants and hundreds of cannabis sprouts in the 350 sq ft flat, which was divided into cubicles and fitted with plant-growing equipment.
Also seized were 29 sets of solar lights used to speed plant growth and a water sprinkler system.
'It was just like an indoor farm,' a police officer said. 'It was packed with plants, bags of fertiliser and soils and different types of equipment.'
A home-made ventilation system, using cooker hoods, was used to dissipate the strong smell of the cannabis plants.
'Each cubicle had two to three cooker hoods connected to ventilation pipes and fitted with filters,' the officer said.
To prevent outsiders from looking into the flat, all the windows were covered with red plastic sheets.
Police said following a tip-off, they raided the top floor of a six-storey building in Kowloon City Road at about 10am yesterday.
No one was arrested and the Kowloon West regional special duty squad is continuing investigations. A police spokeswoman said officers were still trying to estimate the value of the seizure.
Assistant Kowloon City district commander (crime) Superintendent Joseph Yeung Chi-choi said the farm's products were believed to be for local consumption.
Yeung also said police were checking how long the nursery had been in operation.
Another officer said he believed the farm was set up about two months ago. 'The plants were just ready for harvesting.'
He also said it was very rare to find such a farm in an urban flat.
In April last year, police seized 150 cannabis plants and arrested three people in a raid on a flat in Sham Shui Po.
According to police, 46kg of cannabis were seized last year, compared with 11kg in 2010.
