A retired police officer bought a property in East Belfast and had planned to renovate it once she’d saved enough money, but when she visited the property, she was left horrified
A gobsmacked retired police officer has spoke of her shock after stumbling upon a cannabis factory set up in her vacant property. The woman visited the address on Maymount Street in East Belfast last week to carry out repairs, only to find that the door locks had been changed and different blinds hung in the windows.
She said the house had been empty for a couple of years after being left in a shoddy state by previous tenants, and had needed time to save for refurbishments. But after gaining access via the back alleyway, she was hit by a potent whiff of cannabis. Upon entering the property, she discovered nearly every room brimming with cannabis plants.
A man, who had been sleeping in the backyard shed, scarpered as soon as the woman entered the property. Neighbours later informed her they had seen him frequently visiting the property.
Holes had been drilled into the property’s floors, ceilings and chimney to accommodate ventilation systems for the cannabis factory.
Speaking to Belfast Live, the woman said: “The house on Maymount Street is the first I ever bought and I had been renting it out until it fell into a poor state and I left it vacant until I could afford to make the repairs that were needed.
“I thought the house was completely secure and we had even put nails into the front door to make sure it would be locked up. Last week I went round to the property to check on things as I was now ready to start working on it and was shocked to find that the locks had been changed and the blinds in the window were different to the ones that should be there.
“Once I got into the rear alley there was a very strong smell of cannabis and looking around I could tell it wasn’t coming from one of the neighbours houses. Then when we got inside we found the house full of cannabis plants, nearly every room was full of them.
“There was someone in the house at the time who quickly ran away and neighbours have told us that an Asian man had been coming and going from the house over the past few weeks. It appears that he wasn’t even sleeping in the house and had a bed in the shed in the back yard, but was using the kitchen to cook.
“The house has been wrecked by what they have done, with holes cut in the floors, ceilings and chimney and I have been left with an eye-watering electric bill.
“An officer has told me this is very common at the moment, although Air BnBs are more commonly used, and it’s hard to believe that this is happening in Northern Ireland.”
The woman voiced her concerns about the ongoing investigation into the cannabis factory, feeling that more action should have already been taken.
She said: “It seemed to me that the officers were not too interested in the factory and they were just going to see what happens based on the forensic report. There are invoices here for equipment linked to an address in Belfast which don’t seem to have been taken as evidence and no officers have spoken to any of the neighbours.
“I would imagine that this is linked to organised crime and human trafficking so I would have thought they would try and take a more proactive approach than ‘we will see what happens’.”
Police Inspector Connolly said: “We received a report at around 11.30am on Wednesday, November 5, when the homeowner called to check on the house and discovered the cannabis farm inside.
“Officers attended and subsequently carried out a search of the house, uncovering more than 40 cannabis plants in the two upstairs bedrooms. A further 50 cannabis plants were located in the attic, along with approximately 40 plants in the living room and various drug-related paraphernalia.
“No one was in the property at the time of the search, however. Our investigation into this is ongoing and I would ask any member of the public who has any information which could be of assistance to police to contact our non-emergency number on 101, quoting reference number 564 of 05/11/25.”
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