Cannabis factories worth £4m discovered in Southampton
- Published
The factories included fully grown plants and saplings
Two cannabis factories with plants worth almost £4m have been discovered by police in central Southampton.
The 1,782 plants were found last week in two disused commercial properties on High Street and Castle Way .
Two men, initially arrested on suspicion of producing Class B drugs, were now being treated as potential victims, Hampshire Constabulary said.
Ch Insp Ricky Dhanda said such facilities were usually "linked to serious criminality".
The value of both factories, which included fully grown plants and saplings, has been estimated at £3.8m, the force said.
'Large-scale operations'
Empty pots were also discovered, indicating a previous crop which had already been harvested.
Ch Insp Dhanda said: "Large-scale operations like this are often run by organised crime gangs.
"Those gangs are likely to engage in very serious violence involving weapons, such as firearms.
"They may also take advantage of vulnerable people, exploiting them or making them work in servitude."
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