Laura Bagshaw TWO major drugs raids in Great Yarmouth this week uncovered more than 2,000 cannabis plants, with a street value of more than £200,000.And neighbours have reacted in horror to learning of a secret drugs factory in the midst of their terraced homes.

Laura Bagshaw

TWO major drugs raids in Great Yarmouth this week uncovered more than 2,000 cannabis plants, with a street value of more than £200,000.

And neighbours have reacted in horror to learning of a secret drugs factory in the midst of their terraced homes.

Police raided a townhouse on St George's Road on Tuesday afternoon and seized more than 1,000 plants. Two Vietnamese nationals, a 48-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, were arrested.

Further investigation led officers to Anson Road in Southtown where a further 1,000 plants, in various stages of cultivation, were discovered behind the closed curtains.

Inside, both rented homes had been transformed with expert watering systems and heat lamps, powered by illegally tapping into the electricity supply.

The swoops by Yarmouth's tactical team resulted in the biggest cannabis find in Norfolk for several years.

In Anson Road, neighbours were shocked to see photographs of the rooms filled with mature skunk cannabis plants and they told of their “disgust” at learning a drugs factory was “on their doorstep.”

One mum-of-two youngsters said: “I can't believe this has been happening so close to our home. I think it's disgusting.”

The 35-year-old woman said: “A couple lived there. I saw them about a month ago and said hello and they spoke back. They just seemed like a normal couple.”

The mum said she believed the couple had been living there for about six months and that the curtains would often be closed, lights left on overnight and papers stuck in the letterbox.

Another elderly resident said: “It's enough to make you feel sick. It just proves you never know what is happened on your doorstep.” He said he had not noticed anything “strange” about the house and said that it had been decorated with lights at Christmas.

Another resident told the Mercury she was “absolutely amazed.”

She added: “I'm stunned. This is such a quiet road.”

The woman said she had seen “lots of people” going into the house, especially at Christmas.

Yesterday, police were clearing out the house.

The police officer behind the two raids, Det Insp Stuart Armes said they were now actively investigating links to a multi-million pound Vietnamese drugs network operating across the country.

He said: “With a street value of more than £200,000 the find will affect the way they manage their business in the future.”

The raids had follows a series of recent smaller seizures in the borough.

Last week police found 30 plants at a home in Rollesby.

Det Insp Armes said: “Neighbours are best placed to see if something is amiss.

“We would ask people to look out for black bags at windows or curtains drawn all the time, or homes with very few people coming or going, and condensation at windows.”

He added police had made a “dent” in a professional local drugs ring.

“We have certainly made a good impact and working together with the community we will continue to make a good impact.”

If you have any information for police call, in confidence, 0845 456 4567.

Two people appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court yesterday charged with producing cannabis and were remanded in custody.