Drugs worth £1m and shotgun seized in dawn raids

Officers discovered a large cannabis factory in Luton which had 215 plants

More than £1m worth of cannabis plants and a shotgun have been seized in dawn raids during a month-long operation across a county.

Bedfordshire Police has said it uncovered six illegal cannabis factories in Bedford, Luton and Sharnbrook throughout February.

Officers arrested five people and seized a loaded shotgun, £5,400 in cash, 1712 cannabis plants and 8kg of processed cannabis ready for street supply.

The early morning raids were part of a national operation targeting criminal networks involved in cannabis cultivation and money laundering.

A loaded shotgun was seized by Bedfordshire Police during the raids

One property was identified after engineers went to carry out routine work and noted a strong smell of cannabis.

Det Sgt Gary Hatton, who led the operation, said: "These latest successes are a result of intricate and painstaking work by numerous teams across the force."

Det Sgt Gary Hatton said growing cannabis fuelled "criminality and anti-social behaviour"

On Thursday 20 February, police forced entry into a property in Hartley Road, Luton, following reports of suspicious behaviour.

There was intelligence the property had windows and blinds shut at all times of day and the glass pane of the door was covered with a sheet.

Inside, officers found over 200 cannabis plants and identified a man who was later safeguarded as a suspected victim of human trafficking.

A search of the property revealed criminals had drilled a hole into the neighbouring building, which also had its windows covered.

Det Sgt Hatton added: "Without activity like this, these plants would be harvested, processed and disseminated in our community, fuelling criminality, anti-social behaviour and the appalling violence we see when drug gangs feud over territory."