Scotland Pot Raid Reveals an Unusually Large Trove of Marijuana and Munitions

During a drug bust conducted by Scottish police uncovered one of the largest cannabis farm in the United Kingdom, along with a trove of other illegal items. Earlier this month information was released detailing that Scottish authorities raided one Parmdeep Singh’s home in Langbank, Renfrewshire and found not only the hundreds of marijuana plants they were looking for, but also lots and lots of guns. In addition to over seven hundred plants in the man’s mansion, police found also a shotgun, several handguns, Russian Kalashnikov’s as well as British-model assault rifles, along with about eight hundred round of ammunition.

According to the Daily Record drug expert Detective Constable Greig Baxter stated that Singh’s growing operation was “one of the most sophisticated he had ever seen”. To quote Baxter directly, “[t]his person has a large degree of knowledge and expertise surrounding how to grow cannabis. The outhouse was windowless and had two sets of double doors at the side for Singh to gain entry and keep the heat in. This building is perfect to grow cannabis in.”

According to the same source Singh was so efficient and skilled that he was able to produce more than three hundred and fifty thousand pounds worth of cannabis every three months. Singh also invest tens of thousands of pounds of equipment into his grow op and built a sophisticated fan system to control the smell produced by the cannabis plants, and also constructed an outhouse complete with specialized growing lights. Sources report that Singh’s motivation to grow so much cannabis was to alleviate financial difficulties.

What is so bizarre though is the reason Singh had stockpiled so much ammunition. According to Singh’s lawyer, David Watt, Singh is a pious man and criminality doesn’t become him. “He [Singh] is a practicing Sikh, his religion is very important to him and such criminal activity is abhorrent to him personally and his religion and his family.He accepts these are very, very serious offences and he knows full well a custodial sentence, a substantial custodial sentence, is inevitable.”

With a population of only nine hundred and seventy-three it seems unlike Singh was preparing to be confronted by a group of rival cannabis distributors, which begs the question as to why he had some many arms and ammunition. While specifics with respect to this question have yet to come out, we may be able to get answers when Singh is expected to go on trial before the High Court next year.