Hartlepool cannabis farms: Drugs 'worth over £1m' seized

Two properties were raided and three men have been arrested

Drugs with a street value estimated at more than £1m were seized when two cannabis farms were uncovered during a police sting.

Specialist officers raided a property in Victoria Road in Hartlepool on Wednesday where the main haul, worth seven figures, was found.

A second site was located at an address on Dent Street with a crop estimated to be worth up to an additional £67,000.

Three men aged 70, 46 and 32 have been arrested and remain in police custody.

A local business was also closed down by the Health and Safety Executive during the operation, with one male referred to the immigration service, Cleveland Police said.

Insp Zoe Kelsey, from Hartlepool Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "We will continue to disrupt criminal activity and bring to justice anyone involved in the production and distribution of drugs, to make our community a safer place to live."

It comes weeks after officers uncovered hundreds of cannabis plants with a street value of about £350,000 at a property in Stanhope Avenue.

A 39-year-old man was charged with production of cannabis