Last updated at 11:55, Monday, 02 April 2012

Police have seized cannabis with a street value of more than £1 million following a string of raids in Cumbria.

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Detectives today said they had dismantled five cannabis farms as part of a major operation over the past two months.

Officers executed 36 search warrants in places including Whitehaven, Cleator Moor,  Millom, Workington, Seaton, Maryport, Wigton and Silloth.

They have arrested 29 people for a string of alleged offences, including possession of drugs, cultivation of cannabis, intent to supply and burglary.

Officers have charged five of them and cautioned a further six. The rest are on bail while investigations into their cases continue.

From the cannabis farms, police recovered plants and harvested cannabis with a street value estimated at £800,000.

Cannabis resin – totalling 38 kilos in weight and with a street value of £220,000 – was also seized.

Details of the operation – codenamed Kibosh – were released this morning.

It was led by Detective Chief Inspector Keith Capstick, who said it provided focus in tackling organised crime in West Cumbria.

He added: “This operation has dented a significant hole into the organised crime in west Cumbria and from the seizures that have been made, a high percentage of drugs have been removed from our streets.

“There is an ever increasing determination by police to combat the problems criminality and organised crime bring to our communities.”

First published at 11:54, Monday, 02 April 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk