Police reveal number of cannabis plants unearthed at former mill in Selkirk
Last updated 14th Dec 2023
It's believed to be one of the biggest cannabis farms ever unearthed in the Scottish Borders.
Last month we reported plants with a street value of £1.2m were seized after police swooped on a derelict mill in Selkirk.
It was the third large-scale cultivation to be dismantled in the region in two months, following earlier raids in Galashiels and Hawick.
More details of what officers encountered inside the former Forest Mill building in Dunsdale Road have now been made public, as investigations continue to find the people responsible.
In a report to community councillors, Police Scotland's Community Action Team reveals around 1,400 plants were seized.
It also confirms our earlier report that concerns around the safety of the multi-storey property - which has lain vacant for more than a decade - prevented them getting full access for almost a week.
It reads: "Owing to the dilapidated state of the building, the clearing took longer than usual, with officers having to do locus protection for a number of days. Eventually, following an in depth structural survey, limited amounts of officers were able to enter the building and dismantle the set up.
"There were approximately 1,400 plants with a street value of over one million pounds."
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No-one has been arrested in connection with the huge haul but police say enquiries are ongoing.
Earlier in November, a cannabis cultivation believed to be worth around £500,000 was unearthed just six miles away at the former Warehouse nightclub in Overhaugh Street, Galashiels.
And, in October, more than 400 cannabis plants were seized by police, 11 miles away in the opposite direction, in Hawick. Two men from Albania have been charged in connection with the raid on the former Buccleuch Hotel in Trinity Street.
Anyone with information can contact Police Scotland by dialling 101 or reporting anonymously, via CrimeStoppers, on 0800 555 111.
WATCH: Click on the link below to view our video of the site in Selkirk...
The latest monthly police report also revealed police are investigating an assault within a school in Galashiels on November the 8th. No other details have been published.
Two thefts were also reported at the Burgh Primary and Borders College on November 2nd, with a third at an unnamed school in the town on November 23rd; while investigations are continuing into reports of a housebreaking in Abbotsford Road, Galashiels, on November 5th.
And four warning letters have been issued during the month of November in relation to youths causing bother at the town's cinema.
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