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Police Find 2,000 Cannabis Plants In Abandoned Gala Bingo Hall

Police Find 2,000 Cannabis Plants In Abandoned Gala Bingo Hall

Police estimated it could have made around £2.8m a year

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Police officers hit the jackpot last week when they uncovered a massive cannabis farm worth almost £3 million hidden in an old bingo hall.

Officers seized 2,000 plants and growing equipment during the raid at the Gala Bingo Hall in Kettering, Northampton, on Friday.

Shocking photographs shared by local authorities show that not an inch of floor space was spared in the operation, with rows of cannabis plants and sophisticated hydroponic cultivation equipment filling the building.

According to Northamptonshire Police, the entire haul could have been worth around £2.8m ($3.5m) a year.

Suspicions were first raised that something wasn't quite right with the property when officers smelled cannabis coming from the derelict building, in Kettering High Street, which closed in January.

Officers seized 2,000 plants from the derelict building.
SWNS

Thermal imaging later revealed heat sources coming from the old hall, despite it supposedly being empty.

Around 25 officers and dogs stormed the building at 10.30am on Friday, 14 June.

PC Colin Gray, from the force's proactive team, said: "This is a significant find that will disrupt organised crime groups and the distribution of cannabis locally and further afield.

"It is one of the largest I have seen even when compared to a site we found in Corby earlier this year."

PC Gray added: "These crime groups blight society by manufacturing and selling controlled drugs in Northamptonshire.

They estimated the farm could make round £2.8m a year.
SWNS

"We will never stop trying to bring them down and this type of activity will continue."

Nobody was inside the cannabis factory but the bingo hall's kitchen had been in use.

The plants were also said to have been about three weeks away from harvest and distribution.

But it seems that major drug operations are more common that you'd think. Earlier this year, police seized 54 cannabis plants after an officer came to the aid of an elderly drunk woman.

A worried neighbour had called the police when they became concerned after spotting the woman in their garden, in Heaton, Newcastle.

According to reports, the neighbour was worried about the 65-year-old woman's welfare, as she seemed to be drunk.

After making sure she was ok, officers took her home, just a few yards away from where she was found, but upon opening her front door they were met with a waft of weed coming from the property. When they asked the owner where it was coming from, she pointed to her loft.

Police went on to seize growing equipment and 54 plants, before arresting the woman and a 69-year-old man.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK News, Interesting, crime, Drugs