More than 5,000 cannabis plants seized and 18 people arrested by Northamptonshire police last month alone

Eighteen people have been arrested and more than 5,000 cannabis plants have been seized as part of a national operation tackling the organised crime gangs (OCGs) that are responsible for cannabis factories.

Northamptonshire Police joined with other forces across the UK to take part in Operation Mille, a coordinated campaign which saw more than a thousand search warrants executed throughout June.

In Northamptonshire, officers executed 21 search warrants, arrested 18 people and seized cash, cannabis and Class A drugs.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Cobley, from the Force’s Proactive Crime and Intelligence department, said: “Highly sophisticated criminal networks operate across the UK to set up cannabis factories, often exploiting vulnerable people to farm the factories.

“The month of action was designed to disrupt OCGs by taking out a key source of their revenue, while simultaneously apprehending many of those involved, safeguarding those being exploited, and increasing intelligence around how the networks operate.

“Cannabis-related crime is often thought to be ‘low level’, however there are clear patterns around the exploitation and violence OCGs use 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.”

The Operation Mille results for Northamptonshire included 5,001 cannabis plants seized, 21 search warrants executed, 18 arrests made, four people charged, two people safeguarded, and 60 intelligence logs submitted.

Anyone with information about a potential cannabis factory or drug dealing can report it to Northamptonshire Police via northants.police.uk or by calling 101. You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously online via crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.