Cannabis farmers painted exterior of shop every day to cover up smell of plants growing inside

Cannabis farmers applied dozens of coats of paint to an empty shop unit in a desperate bid to cover up the drug’s tell-tale smell escaping from inside. They had 60 plants worth £25,000 growing inside the former estate agents.

But the smell of cannabis was wafting into the street so the culprits hatched the unusual plan to try to whitewash their activities. Two men spent five hours a day, Monday to Friday, painting and re-painting the exterior of the corner premises on Edinburgh’s Leith Walk.



After finishing a coat, they would start another, smothering the shop front in layers of cream paint. Muhammed Imran, 35, who runs the Home Essentials store on Leith Walk, said: “We were wondering what was going on because two men were painting the outside of the shop every day.

“They did not appear to be professional painters. They were just wearing jeans and things. I think some people in the street had noticed the smell. They were obviously hoping that the fresh paint smell would cover it up.” The men’s work was undone, however, when police raided the property last week and found the makeshift cannabis factory.