Newport: £7m cannabis seized in Gwent Police operation

Gwent Police say these cannabis plants were found in a property in Commercial Street, Newport

Police say they believe raids have disrupted an "organised crime group" growing cannabis in a city centre's empty buildings.

Gwent officers have made 17 arrests to date for alleged drug offences in Newport, and confiscated a total of 11,500 cannabis plants.

As part of Operation Forester, police have seized £7m of the Class B drug.

Supt Jason White told Newport councillors he could assure them the number of arrests would grow.

"We have clearly unearthed an organised crime group working not just in the Newport area but across Gwent and further afield," he said.

"We've got a dedicated team that has been allocated to the investigation, and you will see in the coming weeks and months some further proactive work going on".

In addition, Supt White said his officers had tackled a spate of commercial burglaries in the city centre, which "peaked" in November when there were 25 incidents reported.

Special patrols had worked, he said, telling councillors the force had arrested six suspects.

Since November, the number of commercial burglaries in central Newport had fallen, he added - down to 10 reported incidents in December, and a further five in January.

Council leader Jane Mudd told him: "In this difficult time our retailers do face a lot of challenges, so it is really positive to hear the work that is going on, particularly in the city centre."