He rented his house and the tenants turned it into something unexpected and illegal

“I turned on the light and, oh my God, one meter of land in my bedroomsays Charles Reeves, still in disbelief as he shows her his home to the BBC. “I’m surprised the floor withstood all of this.”

Reeves, a homeowner in north London, returned from work abroad And found his family home that he had rented into a cannabis cultivation facility.

Criminals posed as tenants and dumped 10 tons of earth on the property. The complex operation caused major damage to the house and left the family devastated.

Experts say such crimes are on the rise and criminals appear to be taking advantage of the lengthy clearance process to carry out illegal drug-growing operations. cannabis before it disappears.

The Reeves family advertised their property for rent online as they prepared to move abroad. A real estate agent contacted them when he learned they would be away for an extended period of time. He promised them a family of tenants, supposedly workers at a company in London’s financial district and with children.

However, It turned out that the “tenants” were fraudsters who never paid rent and used the property for criminal activities.. It later emerged that the real estate agent was running a fake website and the tenants were fictitious.

Police told Reeves it was one of the worst cases of this type of crime they had ever seen. More than 400 cannabis plants with an estimated value of hundreds of thousands of dollars were seized from the property.

Reeves went to the property after he managed to obtain it a court order to enter your own home, because they hadn’t paid the rent. He knocked on the door and was greeted by several men, one of whom stated that the property was in good condition. After half an hour the men were gone. It is unknown what role they played in cultivation.

“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” said Reeves, describing the moment he entered the building home. “Cannabis offenders dumped 10 tons of dirt into the master bedroom.”

“The whole place had been turned into a drug factory. There were holes in the ceiling, wires everywhere and the smell was unbearable.”

The emotional impact on the family, both from the rental fraud and the damage to their home, was immense. Charles’ wife Julia said: “When it comes to property, especially a house where you lived for almost 20 years and raised your son… It’s pretty terrible to feel like you’re being attacked inside, that inner sanctuary, that place of comfort. who we could trust in the city, it is our home, it is very painful.”

For Charles, “emotionally it feels like mine home I would have been violated, that’s what I feel. The damage, the dirt everywhere. This is the first real home I’ve had, we are destroyed and devastated.”

This is what figures from the Metropolitan Police show were discovered more than 1000 cannabis plants in London between 2018 and 2023. However, experts believe that this number represents only a small proportion of the crops currently in operation.

According to Allen Morgan, one of Britain’s leading drug crime experts and a former police officer, house rents are linked to drug cultivation cannabis they are gaining weight. “We are seeing a significant increase in this type of crime, with criminals exploiting the rental market to set up illegal grow operations,” he says.

“They are taking advantage of the legal system and the eviction process. They know it can take months to remove a tenant, even if they stop paying rent. During this time, they can complete multiple harvests and make a significant profit before disappearing without a trace.”

The lack of regulation of real estate rentals has facilitated the activities of fraudsters. Real estate agents are not required to qualify, even if they manage significant assets. This can leave owners vulnerable to fraud and other criminal activity.

“If something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” warns Morgan. “If someone shows up and offers cash and has to move immediately, alarm bells should ring.”

Trading with cannabis has grown from small-scale cultivation operations to sophisticated multimillion-dollar operations allegedly run by international criminal groups. London has become a center for drug distribution with its huge local market and extensive transport network.

“The problem with London is obviously that it is one of the main drug distribution centers in the whole of the UK,” explains Morgan.

“When you convert a rented house into a cultivation center, you have five, six, maybe seven separate cultivation areas where you can grow plants cannabisapparently subtle and without any evidentiary connection.”

Police say they are still investigating what happened to the Reeves family, but in reality innocent homeowners are being blamed for London’s growing drug crime.

The Reeves hope that by sharing their story they can raise awareness of this growing problem and prevent other homeowners from falling victim to similar scams.

“We want people to be aware of the risks and take every precaution possible when renting their properties,” Reeves said, adding: “No one should have to go through what we experienced.” “Not only was it fraud, it was the destruction of our home.”