Three-floor cannabis farm worth £1,000,000 found in former nightclub
A cannabis factory spanning three floors worth £1 million has been discovered in a former nightclub in Coventry.
Around 1,000 plants were found after officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) forced their way into the premises on Trinity Street, having smashed through a number of reinforced doors on Thursday.
They were spread out across three storeys, along with £150,000 worth of ‘sophisticated’ planting, growing and irrigation equipment.
Two men were held trying to flee the building after officers used drones to hunt them down. Three men were subsequently arrested and charged with production of a class B drug.
NCA branch commander Adam Warnock said: ‘This is a significant drug seizure which will have a huge impact on the organised crime groups involved, depriving them of commodity and profit.
‘The size of the cannabis factory was significant and sophisticated, spread across three floors of a large building. It is certainly one of the largest grows ever uncovered by the NCA. Our investigation into this seizure continues.’
Albanian national Andi Qani, 24, and Vietnamese national Cao Van Vu, 31, appeared before Coventry magistrates yesterday and were remanded in custody until their next court appearance at Warwick Crown Court on November 12.
A third man, Albanian national Adrian Lieshaj, 28, is wanted by German authorities for robbery offences and is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday for the extradition matter to be heard.
The operation was supported by officers from the West Midlands Police Cannabis Disruption Team.
Chief Supt Lee Wharmby, head of West Midlands Police’s operations department, said: ‘Our pilots helped detain two people using our state-of-the art drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras.’
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