A CANNABIS farm producing drugs with a street value of half-a-million pounds was uncovered in a disused town centre bank.
Police, acting on information from the public, raided the Wood Street empty property to find a sophisticated operation across six rooms in the top floor of the building.
Wood Street is just off Bradshawgate and is designated a conservation area.
It is mainly made up of offices, and was home to Pizza Express before it closed.
Wood Street Socialist Club is also based there.
The property (pictured) was raided on Friday and police are yet to find the people behind the drugs operation, and have launched an appeal for information.
Officers found around 900 plants weighing around 252 kilos spread across six rooms.
The plants had an estimated street value of £500,000.
No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.
(The cannabis farm discovered in an old bank)
Sgt Tracy Tant, of GMP’s Bolton District, said: “This result goes to show the importance of the public working alongside the police to report their concerns around drugs in the community.
“Thanks to intelligence received, we have been able to take a significant quantity of cannabis out of the supply chain, helping disrupt the income of organised criminals who seek to profit from the sale of drugs.
“If you suspect drugs are being grown or sold in your community, contact police immediately,” she added.
A total of 51 cannabis farms have been found in Bolton in the last three years as police crack down on gangs exploiting vulnerable adults and children to cultivate drugs.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) figures reveal there were 16 cannabis farms discovered in the town from September 2019 to August this year.
Eighteen cannabis farms in the borough came to GMP’s attention in the 12 months before then, and 17 were found in 2017/18.
The Bolton News has previously reported how increasing numbers of people are being trafficked to Bolton by criminal gangs who use them to act as gardeners in cannabis farms.
They are lured to the UK from impoverished countries with the promise of work.
Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 5578 quoting 874 of January 22, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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