'Huge' Sunderland cannabis farm worth £500k dismantled
- Published
Police found 600 plants in an empty commercial building in Villiers Street, Sunderland
A "huge" cannabis farm with plants worth up to £500,000 has been found and dismantled by police.
The farm of 600 plants split across two floors was discovered in an empty building in Sunderland on Thursday.
Northumbria Police said they were called after witnesses saw a window smashed from the inside and two people run away from the building.
Sgt Mark Ellis said the way electricity had been rigged in the Villiers Street site made it a "potential death trap".
He said: "This was clearly a huge cannabis farm that was being run from a business premises believed to have sat vacant for a number of months.
"Quite often, these types of drug operations have links to organised crime - so it is absolutely imperative that we find these farms, destroy them and ensure the drugs do not end up in the hands of the most vulnerable in our communities."
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