The factory was to be worth £270,000 after tip-off from a member of the public. When the police can to the house they got the smell on the plants and they saw a man ruining when they entered the house. He was caught when getting in his car the man said that he was paid to look after the plats by feeding and watering them.

A total of 453 plants were taken from the room which had extractor fans and hydroponic lights. The estimated that the plants altogether would have been worth around £269.540.

The 35 year old man Bojev was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for a year and told to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

WASHINGTON — Three pharmaceutical giants are unlocking their freezers to see if government-funded scientists can reinvent some of their old drugs.

Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly & Co. entered a unique program with the National Institutes of Health on Thursday that both sides hope will speed the development of new treatments — by dusting off two dozen old drugs that failed to treat one disease but might treat another.

“The goal is simple, to see whether we can teach old drugs new tricks,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Lots of experimental drugs prove safe in early human testing but fail to help the disease their manufacturer had hoped to treat. Despite the years of work and tens of millions of dollars invested in them, “too many times these compounds, they end up sitting on shelves or they end up in somebody’s freezer,” said Pfizer senior vice-president Rod MacKenzie.

Under the new program, the drug companies will make at least two dozen of their shelved drugs, and the data about them, available for NIH-funded research. The NIH will award grants to scientists around the country who apply to study specific drugs, with the goal of rapidly beginning human trials of promising candidates since the required safety testing already has been done.

And rather than those scientists undergoing what Lilly executive vice-president Jan Lundberg called “endless discussions about legal agreements” before getting to work, the program provides a streamlined approach: The companies retain ownership of their drugs, but the researchers can patent and publish their own discoveries.

The NIH plans to spend about $20 million in the program’s first year, and hopes other drug companies will join.

AstraZeneca said it began partnering with British researchers last December in a similar program.

The head of one of New Zealand’s largest drug syndicates has been jailed for 17 years and three months while his right-hand man received a sentence of one year less.

Feng Chih “Daniel” Hsu and Aenoy Bouavong pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession and supply charges.

APNZ understands the police are now seeking money from the sale of Hsu’s BMW X5, money from the sale of his house and $985,000 in cash.

The application, under the Proceeds of Crimes Act, is now before the High Court and will be the subject of a future hearing.

Crown prosecutor David Johnstone told the court that Hsu was “the mastermind.”

Hsu’s lawyer Ron Mansfield said his client got involved in drugs after his business failed but was relieved when police finally caught up with him.

“It does seem that he found himself in a lifestyle difficult to get out of.”

However, Justice Toogood said Hsu’s offending involved over $5 million worth of methamphetamine which was motivated by greed.

Thi Hong Lan Nguyen was sentenced to 12 years. Her lawyer Mina Wharepouri said Nguyen was further down the chain than the others and she had her own addiction to methamphetamine which she had since sought help for.

He said part of the reason the 28-year-old got involved in the group was to provide for her five children.

Justice Toogood described her as “instrumental” in getting the drugs onto the street.

Another dealer and partner of Nguyen was Aenoy Keophila. He was sentenced to 12 years and six months.

Ka Kit Poon was sentenced to nine years in prison. Phokham Bouavong – brother to Aenoy – was sentenced to six years; and Tavita Maleko five years.

Cannabis farmers steal about £200m of electricity annually to grow illegal crops indoors – enough to power every home in Newcastle for a year.

A police report released this week estimated 1.1m plants worth more than £207 million were discovered in the last two years.

“It’s about more than money. These farms are essentially death traps,” he said. “In one small space such as a loft or a garage you have all this electricity and gallons of water which is a lethal combination.”

He said: “The cultivation of cannabis is happening on an industrial scale, but at the moment the police are still very much reliant on intelligence and tip-offs.”

Growing cannabis indoors under lights without soil produces more potent strains but requires a lot of energy.

A HUGE haul of cannabis with a a street value of several thousands of pounds has been left at an Oxfam shop.

The anonymous donation was forwarded on to the charity’s depot and staff there alerted police.

Lorraine Needham-Brinley, production manager at the depot, said: “Staff were suspicious because of a very pungent smell and when they opened this bag they found a big stash of cannabis wrapped in a large bath sheet.

“The volunteers at the shop who received it probably smelled it and just decided to send it straight on without opening it.”

Staff put the haul in Ms Needham-Brinley’s office until police arrived but the smell left her reeling.

“It gave me such a bad headache I had to seal it up,” she added.

The Oxfam Wastesaver depot in Huddersfield, West Yorks, sorts clothing donated to all Oxfam shops across the country.

A police spokesman said the drugs had been seized and destroyed.

1. Depression: Depression can turn anyone towards drugs. Pills, marijuana and cocaine offer an escape from the sadness. If the addicted continues to use drugs, loses friends and family, he will inevitably have troubles with depression.

2. Family: Drug addicts often think and act differently when using drugs. They will often steal from their family, and be more inclined to abuse them physically and mentally. As families are destroyed by alcoholism, illicit drug use can destroy them too.

3. Careers: Often, before one even attempts to get a job there is a drug test. So, before the career even begins it is over. For those who already have careers, consider that drug use increases the chances of losing a job. All the work put in can be destroyed by an addiction to cocaine or marijuana. Losing a job because of drug addiction doesn’t look good when you want to get the next job; references will be meaningless if the former boss says you were fired, and then tells why the worker was fired.

4. Friends: Friends are often more willing to work with the drug addict because they see him as someone trying to find happiness. Where the family has to live with the addict, there is more distance for the friend. However, even friends will leave the addicted to his own choices, and decide to stop socializing with them. The addict, already losing his or her family, will have lost all social friends too.

5. Spiritual: Using drugs may seem spiritual at first. Addicts may see themselves as becoming closer with their beliefs. However, putting drugs ahead of family usually says the addict is willing to put drugs ahead of his or her God. Once it was thought spirituality could be found by inhaling or injecting something, but now few religions or cultures tolerate drug use in religious rituals.

Bonus. Physical Health: Inhaling drugs like marijuana clearly is dangerous. If done enough, it can have the same effects that smoking cigarettes can cause. Marijuana has five times as much tar as the same amount of tobacco. Injecting drugs with needles, however, can be fatal in a shorter time. Consider that every time the addict uses a needle by another addict, fatal diseases like AIDS can be spread. Every day, someone uses a dirty needle and later finds that he has contracted a serious illness. Addicts will also be less inclined to exercise or take care of themselves when all that matters is getting the next high.