£65,000 worth of Class-B drugs seized in Ashington
Class-B drugs worth £65,000 have been seized as part of Operation Community Pride in Ashington. Officers from the Ashington Neighbourhood Policing team carried out a raid at an address in Woodhorn Road yesterday, (Tuesday, April 19), and discovered a cannabis farm with an estimated value of £65,000. A stun gun and CS canister were also recovered.
Simonas Zilinskas, who is 29 and of no fixed abode, has been charged with producing a controlled drug and possessing a weapon designed to discharge a noxious substance appeared before South East Northumberland Magistrates Court today, (Wednesday, April 20).
The 29-year-old has been remanded in custody and will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on May 18 for a pre-trial hearing.
The activity comes as part of Operation Community Pride - an ongoing initiative in Ashington to improve quality of life for residents and make the area an even safer place to live and work. Ashington Neighbourhood Inspector, Dave Harris, said: "The activity carried out by our neighbourhood officers yesterday was a direct result of community intelligence. Residents had told us they had concerns about suspicious activity in the area and we were able to take action from the information we received. "This is a significant amount of cannabis recovered and taken off our streets and officers will continue to carry out pro-active work to target those suspected of being involved in crime and in this instance it has prevented drugs from reaching the streets of Ashington. "Anyone with information about suspected drug use and supply in their community should contact police so we can act on the information." Anyone with concerns is asked to contact police on 101.