SNP councillor resigns from party after £500,000 drug bust
An SNP politician has stepped down from the party after being charged with drug offences following the discovery of a cannabis farm at a rural property.
Aileen Orr, a councillor and one-time party staff member for Mike Russell, the former SNP president and Nicola Sturgeon ally, was arrested after a drugs bust in the Borders in February last year.
Orr, now 71, called the emergency services to report a break-in at a farmhouse on the outskirts of the Berwickshire village of Paxton.
When police arrived at the property they did not locate any burglars but did find a cannabis cultivation with an estimated street value of £500,000.
Orr was arrested and charged last year, as was her 29-year-old son, Duncan Orr. A report is due to be submitted to prosecutors and a court date will be set in due course.
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