8,000 cannabis plants worth £4.3m seized in raids across West Yorkshire

More than 8,000 cannabis plants worth more than £4.3million have been seized in raids across West Yorkshire.

Forty-six people were arrested after officers from West Yorkshire Police executed 50 search warrants as part of a national operation to tackle organised gangs. 

Cash, weapons and other drugs were also seized in the crackdown, called Operation Mille.

Det Ch Insp Jonathan Key, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "The connection between serious crime and cannabis cultivation is clear – the drugs trade fuels gang violence in our communities and leads to untold exploitation and misery."

Operation Mille saw all 43 forces as well as regional organised crime units (ROCUs) target criminal networks involved in cannabis production.

Steve Jupp, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for serious and organised crime, said: "We know that organised networks involved in cannabis production are also directly linked to an array of other serious criminality such as class A drug importation, modern slavery and wider violence and exploitation.

“This operation not only successfully disrupted a significant amount of criminal activity, but the intelligence gathered will also help inform future law enforcement across the country.

"Cannabis-related crime is often thought to be ‘low level’, however there are clear patterns around the exploitation and violence OCGs are using to protect their enterprises. We also frequently find that cannabis production is just one aspect of their criminal operations and that they are complicit in wider offending which blights our communities."

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