Professional cannabis factory found on industrial estate

net1

Drug dealers set up a professional cannabis factory in the middle of an industrial estate, police have revealed.

The building held a greenhouse the size of a small house with space to grow 1,000 plants, which could produce around £500,000 worth of cannabis a year.

Police acting on information from the National Criminal and Intelligence Squad raided the factory and found one man there who has been arrested and is currently being questioned.

They said the "extremely professional" factory included a fully operational hydroponic greenhouse containing 300 cannabis plants, with the potential to grow up to 1,000 plants.

It was virtually automatic, powered by stolen electricity tapped from another nearby unit.

Police estimated that the factory, on Harbet Industrial Estate, in Edmonton, north London, would have cost up to £60,000 to set up.

It had false walls at the front to hide the operation inside and an advanced air conditioning system had been installed.

Fans lined the walls of the growing room, which contained a complex lighting system and large water tanks.

Detective inspector Dave McKelvey said they had not expected to find anything so professional.

"It looks like the entire operation has been run from a laptop computer," he said.

"You probably wouldn't need to visit the unit too often.

"Although we can't yet predict how much these drugs are worth, cannabis is on average £1,200 per kilo."

Police said a man, 38, was being questioned at Edmonton over the find.