[Sativa]

Police have swooped on a cannabis-growing operation in the Colne Valley.
Officers raided a house on Bank Gate, Slaithwaite, yesterday afternoon and discovered dozens of plants worth thousands of pounds.

The electricity had also been tampered with and experts were called in to make the building safe before a detailed examination could be carried out.

The investigation to find out who was behind the operation is continuing today.

The find, not far from Slaithwaite railway station, is the latest in a spate of spectacular hauls across Kirklees this year.

The most recent one was early on June 4, when police discovered a huge haul - the biggest ever in Huddersfield - at a house on Wasp Nest Road in Fartown.

They had gone to the house as part of another investigation, but found 1,000 cannabis plants in various stages of growth and with a street value of £300,000 in the empty three-storey property.

Last month firefighters called to a house on Bradford Road, Hillhouse, discovered another cannabis factory.

Cannabis-growing operations have also been uncovered in St Peter's Street in Huddersfield town centre and at Denby Dale. Both involved plants worth £250,000.

Several people - many of them Vietnamese - have been arrested in connection with the incidents.

Meanwhile, in a long-running operation which led to raids on homes in Liversedge, Dewsbury, Batley and Cross Gates and Meanwood in Leeds officers from West Yorkshire Police's Organised Crime Group and Operations Support Division seized cannabis worth £300,000, along with £60,000, designer jewellery and forged documents.

A 39-year old man and a woman aged 42 were arrested in Cross Gates and a 43-year-old man was detained in Meanwood.

The raids were carried out at 6am on Tuesday.

Det Chief Insp Ingrid Lee, from West Yorkshire Police's Crime Division, said: "This operation has been six months in the planning and is further proof of the seriousness with which our officers tackle drug crime."

All three people were arrested on suspicion of supplying, producing and cultivating cannabis and are on bail pending further enquiries.



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Source: Huddersfield Examiner
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Website: icHuddersfield - Another cannabis factory found