'Our house was turned into a cannabis farm while Dad was in hospital'

Image caption, Yehia Hassan, who has diabetes and uses a wheelchair, says his health has suffered greatly since finding his home destroyed By Jon Ironmonger East investigations Published 5 hours ago Yehia Hassan is on the verge of tears as he surveys the filth and broken furniture strewn across the front room of his beloved Luton home. It's a scene the 78-year-old's family feared him seeing because of the impact it might have on his health. "It was perfect in here," Hassan, who has diabetes and uses a wheelchair, says. "I just don't know how people can do this to someone else's property. It's the only place I have." His terraced house was gutted by renters and converted into a cannabis factory while he was receiving hospital treatment in Egypt. Police raids at his property and a neighbouring address uncovered hundreds of cannabis plants, but the occupants have not been found. Image caption, Hassan's front door was destroyed when police entered the property Figures obtained by the BBC show thousands of cannabis farms have been discovered by police across England in the past three years. In Bedfordshire alone, police have seized plants from residential properties with a street value of about £6m over the same period. A retired foster parent, Hassan says he rented his home to a local business owner and allowed him to sublet it to others. "I really trusted the guy," Hassan says. "He said he was going to look after the place. But honestly, I don't know who I can trust any more. "All my life I have worked for this house. It's going to cost tens of thousands of pounds to put everything right." The constant demand for properties has led drug farmers to look beyond private landlords like Hassan. Bedfordshire Police say there is a growing issue of "professional enablers subletting to criminal networks for the cultivation of cannabis". "We are now seeing estate agents involved in many of the factories we enforce against," says Det Insp Simon Mullan. "Estate agents are unregulated, which is one of the big problems, and criminals are exploiting this industry for their own ends" he added. Image caption, Razan says the family learned about the police raids via a Facebook post Hassan is currently living with his ex-wife and relies on the support of his 19-year-old daughter, Razan. "I was due to go to university, but have put that on hold to sort this out," she says. "There is still no power because the renters rewired everything and were stealing electricity from the entire street." Not a single part of her childhood home was left untouched by the drugs operation. In the space of just a few weeks, criminals bored large holes in the walls for extractor fans, hung heavy lights from the ceilings and removed a fence panel, apparently to enable access from a third property. Cannabis farms found in homes, casino and under M1 Published 26 December 2025 Cannabis plants worth £1m found in ex-nightclub Published 3 September 2025 'Cannabis crooks dumped 10 tonnes of soil