Police have raided more than 1,000 cannabis farms across Britain, with plants worth £130 million seized and some 1,000 suspects arrested. The massive month-long operation targeted what law enforcement believe is a cash cow for organised crime gangs who are also involved in other offences such as money laundering, Class A drug smuggling, and violence.
Described by the BBC as the “most significant” law enforcement initiative of its kind, Operation Mille netted 180,000 cannabis plants, potentially worth £130 million ($167 million) and 20kg of cocaine worth as much as £1 million in a month of coordinated raids across England and Wales. Police also confiscated 20 guns, 40 other offensive weapons, and £636,000 in cash from targets.
Some 11,000 members of all 43 local and regional police forces in the two countries collaborated with the National Crime Agency and Immigration Enforcement on the raids, serving more than 1,000 warrants at suspected cannabis growing operations.
It comes as part of a huge month-long operation targeted at what law enforcement believe is a cash cow for organised criminals involved in money laundering, drug smuggling and violence
Steve Jupp, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for Serious and Organised Crime, said: 'We know that organised networks involved in cannabis production are also directly linked to an array of other serious criminality such as Class A drug importation, modern slavery and wider violence and exploitation.
'This operation not only successfully disrupted a significant amount of criminal activity, but the intelligence gathered will also help inform future law enforcement across the country.
'Cannabis-related crime is often thought to be 'low level'; however, there are clear patterns around the exploitation and violence organised crime groups are using to protect their enterprises.
'We also frequently find that cannabis production is just one aspect of their criminal operations and that they are complicit in wider offending which blights our communities.'
During June, Operation Mille, the largest of its kind and one involving every police force in England, Wales and Scotland, saw 200,000 cannabis plants seized, along with 15 to 20 guns and more than 40 other offensive weapons.
Around 11,000 officers were involved in the crackdown, during which £650,000 in cash was also seized.
Large-scale industrial units are used for cannabis farms but also empty residential homes.
Police say the buildings can become dangerous as a result of fire risks, unlawful abstraction of electricity, fumes and water damage.
While admitting trade in the drug was often considered “low-level,” he argued its cultivation on a large scale was a proven source of income to organized crime networks, with participants “complicit in wider offending which blights our communities.”
“We know that organized networks involved in cannabis production are also directly linked to an array of other serious criminality such as Class A drug importation, modern slavery and wider violence and exploitation,” Jupp said.
Of particular concern is the exploitation of young people in so-called county lines networks, which use kids as young as 12 who have been lured out of school with offers of fast cash and trinkets to deliver drugs to customers in rural areas. Children are used based on the belief they are unlikely to face serious punishment even if caught with illegal substances. More than 2,000 such gangs are believed to exist in the UK, employing 27,000 youths in selling and transporting drugs.
In 2020, UK police arrested more than 700 suspects and seized £54 million in cash and tons of drugs after intelligence agencies in Europe hacked into EncroChat, an encryption format that was at the time ubiquitous among criminal organizations involved in drugs, weapons, and people smuggling into the UK. EncroPhones were used by 10,000 people in the UK alone and 60,000 worldwide who believed their communications to be secure from eavesdropping.
