Cannabis plants seized in Westbury 'worth up to £2m'

An investigation into who set up the cannabis factory continues

Author: Simon McleanPublished 14th Jan 2022

It's thought 2,000 plants discovered at a cannabis factory in Westbury were worth around £2 million pounds.

Officers made the discovery on Friday 7th January while investigating a van that had crashed into a pylon at The Maltings.

They became suspicious when they saw two cables running into the building, and found the factory across three floors.

The two thousand plants have now been removed to be incinerated, and investigations into who was behind the factory are continuing.

'Not a victimless crime'

Detective Sergeant Andy Morley said: “Since the discovery of the plants over the weekend, our team of detectives have been working hard to understand more about this operation and the people who have been seen entering the building over recent weeks and months.

“Obviously, due to the scale of the operation, we have had to work carefully to manage the site and we have now been able to remove all the plants and ensure they are incinerated.

“We have been conducting house-to-house enquiries over recent days and speaking with people living nearby to find out about more information.”

At this stage no arrests have been made.

Inspector Al Lumley, from the Warminster Area Community Policing Team, said that these types of cannabis operations were usually linked to organised crime.

He said: “We know that some people within our communities view cannabis production and supply as a less serious crime, but we need people to understand that it is often linked to very serious crime organisations.

“An operation of this scale can often be linked to exploitation and trafficking, and should not be considered a “victimless” crime."

Anyone with information the Westbury cannabis factory is asked to call Central CID on 101, quoting crime reference 54220002145.

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