Garden plant sparks cannabis raid

Police raided the home of an elderly couple looking for a drug factory because a plant in their garden smelled like cannabis. Ivor and Margaret Wiltshire bought the 'moss phlox' four years ago for £2 and it quickly spread through their front and back garden.

But the common garden plant, Latin name Phlox subulata, which grows vivid pink flowers in the spring, gives off a pungent aroma similar to the drug.

The smell was so strong the couple's next-door neighbour was even threatened by a local drug gang who broke into their home and demanded: "Give us the weed man".



Weeks later Ivor, 77, and Margaret, 79, returned home to find the drugs squad had battered down their front door and searched their property.

No drugs were found and a police woman later told them the moss phlox was responsible for the raid after she removed a sample for analysis. The couple have since received an apology from Avon and Somerset police but have lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Ironically, retired engineer Ivor - who has now pulled up the plant, has no sense of smell following an operation 30 years ago and has no idea what cannabis smells like.