Police in Bedale have dismantled a cannabis farm worth around £400,000.
North Yorkshire Police received a call from an electrical supplier who raised concerns over irregular power usage at a premises in the town following a power cut on Friday afternoon.
Officers attended the address at Jubilee Road in Aiskew.
As they arrived two occupants ran from the area and a police helicopter was called in to help with the search.
A short time later police detained the two men who were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a class B drug.
A police spokesperson said: “The men aged in their 30s are believed to be acting as part of an organised crime group based in the Western Balkan region of Europe.
“They have since been charged with cannabis production and are due to appear in court.
“Inside the premises, officers discovered a highly professional and sophisticated large-scale cannabis farm with thousands of plants spread across several growing areas.
“We believe that it had been used by an organised crime gang to produce several crops with an estimated street value of £395,000 to £494,000.”
The area commander for Hambleton and Richmondshire, Superintendent Teresa Lam added: “Cannabis farming is extremely harmful and is often linked to sophisticated criminality.
“It’s used to fund criminal gangs who are involved in serious organised crime such as human trafficking, sexual exploitation and the distribution of class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
“There are significant health and safety concerns linked to organised grows like this one which can cause various problems such as the electrical outage which was reported to us.
“I’m grateful to the electrical supplier for providing the information and we continue to appeal for landlords, letting agents and the wider public to report any suspicious activity.”
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