£1m of cannabis seized in drug farm raids

Drugs worth about £1m have been seized in a series of raids on illegal grow sites, with 10 people arrested.

Up to 1,000 cannabis plants, each thought to be worth £1,000, were found during police operations at 12 different premises in Rotherham between 6 and 13 December.

Ten people were arrested on suspicion of offences including the cultivation of cannabis, immigration offences and abstracting electricity, South Yorkshire Police said.

The force said one factory on Fitzwilliam Road contained 170 plants, while a cannabis farm on Herringthorpe Valley Road contained plants worth up to £150,000.

Insp John Crapper of Rotherham Central NPT said: "These results are part of Operation Grow, our ongoing work to tackle cannabis grows in Rotherham.

"These grows are often linked to organised crime and the exploitation of vulnerable people who are forced to mind the farms on behalf of gangs."

Insp Crapper said the raids had given the force "valuable intelligence about those facilitating these enterprises".

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