Watch as police raid £700,000 cannabis farm near Peterborough and arrest two 'gardeners'

Acting on information received from members of the public, neighbourhood officers raided the industrial unit, at Sawtry Business Park, on November 16 last year..

Inside the unit the officers discovered 717 plants with a street value of more than £700,000 as well as ‘gardeners’, Van Tran and Thieu Nguyen.

The pair were both arrested, later charged and pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis.

At Huntingdon Crown Court on June 13), Tran (35) of no fixed address, was described as a ‘professional gardener’ who earned ‘significant sums’ and engaged in ‘repeated harvests at multiple locations’.

He was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

Nguyen (31) of no fixed address, was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Detective Constable Steve Surtees, who investigated, said: “Thanks to information received, a substantial amount of illegal drugs were stopped from finding their way to the streets and two people are serving lengthy sentences.

“Drug trafficking is a source of revenue for organised crime groups, many of whom are involved in other forms of serious crime including modern slavery.

“We would encourage people to continue to look out for signs of illegal cannabis factories including blacked out windows and people coming and going various times of the day.”

Police say there are key signs to spot a property that could be being used as a cannabis factory:

These include frequent visitors to a property at unsocial hours throughout the day and night, blacked out windows or condensation on the windows, even when it is not cold outside and bright lights in rooms throughout the night.

Others signs include electricity meters being tampered with/altered and new cabling, a powerful, distinctive, sweet, sticky aroma and noise from fans and an excessive amount of plant pots, chemicals, fertilisers and compost.