Couple investigated after cannabis plants seized in Gütersloh shelter
Police and public-order officers seized a middle two-digit number of cannabis plants from a couple's flat in a city-run shelter on Lindenstraße in Gütersloh. The couple, aged 51 and 52, face proceedings for unauthorised cultivation and have been moved to another facility.
🇩🇪 Lindenstraße municipal shelter, Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia · Germany
Police and Gütersloh public-order officers seized cannabis plants from a flat in
the city-run Lindenstraße shelter on Tuesday.[1]The flat’s residents, a
married couple aged 51 and 52, face criminal proceedings for unauthorised
cultivation of cannabis.[1]The city has since moved the couple to a different
municipal facility after the find.[1]
The discovery was described as accidental during an inspection the Gütersloh
public-order office wanted to carry out because the couple had mounted
illuminated Christmas decorations above their entrance.[1]Inspectors were
concerned because the associated power distribution was allegedly not installed
properly, and officers found the plants during that check before police searched
the flat and confiscated them.[1]Whether other people or premises are
involved remains subject to the ongoing investigation.[1]
The building is a distinctive natural-stone house by the railway underpass where
the couple had lived for more than a year and had decorated the drab facade with
flowers, plants, containers and painted stones.[1]
Photos and video
Residents outside the Lindenstraße municipal shelter shortly after the raid; police seized cannabis plants from the couple's flat. Photo: Wolfgang Wotke Source: Neue Westfälische
No exact plant count was published; police gave only a middle two-digit number, so no plants_destroyed figure is recorded.
The raid date of 3 November 2026 is inferred from the article's reference to Tuesday and its publication date of 4 November 2026.
No arrest, dried-cannabis weight, valuation or court outcome was reported; the case was still under investigation.
Only one source account could be opened despite searches, so no independent corroboration was found.
Teaser images on the page for Bielefeld, Paderborn, Rheda-Wiedenbrück and Harsewinkel show unrelated events and are not listed as media.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Neue Westfälische: Police spokesman Mark Kohnert put the haul at a middle two-digit number of hemp plants and said investigators gave no further details on scale, origin or intended use.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Neue Westfälische: A Gütersloh defence lawyer noted that home growing has been legal in Germany since April 2024 within a limit of three plants per adult, which must be kept separate and protected from access by others.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Neue Westfälische: The same lawyer noted that up to 50 grams of dried cannabis may be kept at home for personal use, with any surplus harvest to be destroyed, and that home-grown cannabis may not be passed on to others.
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