Police have discovered a huge cannabis factory in an abandoned grammar school with more than 700 plants growing in the classrooms. Officers were left stunned when they raided Abu Bakr Boys’ School in Walsall, West Midlands, and found the class B drug strewn across the site over the weekend. A total of 711 cannabis plants, believed to be worth around £700,000, were removed from the abandoned building on Monday.
West Midlands Police’s Cannabis Disposal Team shared details of the seizure on Twitter and said: ‘Not your usual school. ‘This unused school in Kent Street, Walsall was found to be a huge cannabis factory yesterday. ‘Top marks for the cannabis team who cleared the 711 plants today.’
Images revealed hundreds of weed plans growing among old classroom equipment – including school chairs and notice boards. Residents said the former Islamic school closed its doors around two years ago during lockdown and has been boarded up ever since.
One mother, who lives nearby and wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘There were police there all over the weekend but none of them would tell us what was going on.
‘The place has been boarded up for a while now as it closed suddenly during the pandemic.
‘We had no idea it was being used as a cannabis factory. It’s pretty outrageous to be growing weed in a school. Its a sign of the times I guess.’
Other residents reacted on social media with one person commenting: ‘It used to be a school, but its now a nursery.’
West Midlands Police said in a statement: ‘We recovered 711 cannabis plants from a disused school on Kent Street, Walsall at around 12.40am on Saturday.
‘No arrests have been made at this stage and enquiries are ongoing.
