Three men and a woman have been arrested after National Crime Squad officers discovered a large-scale illicit 'skunk' cannabis factory near Selby.

Det Insp Martin Fenwick, of the National Crime Squad, among cannabis plants growing at the old hangar at Breighton Picture: Mike Tipping.

The officers swooped on an old aircraft hangar at Breighton Airfield industrial estate where several hundred plants with a street value of half a million pounds were growing.

The building, now an industrial unit, contained an active growing room for the production of high-strength 'skunk' cannabis plants.

Officers said the so-called hydroponic growing technique involved expensive irrigation and lighting systems.

They said it was one of the most professionally set up and organised cannabis production sites ever seized in the UK.

The crime squad was supported by officers from the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Forensic Science Service and Humberside Police.

They said most of the plants were ready for harvest, but some had already been harvested and were in the drying process at the site ready for distribution on a national scale.

A nearby house, in Sands Lane, Breighton, was also searched and a quantity of documents relating to financial business were seized as part of the investigation codenamed Verdant.

Four other houses, in Sands Lane and Ferry Lane, Breighton, Martins Road, Ulceby, and Breighton Road, Bubwith, were also searched.

Detective Inspector Martin Fenwick, of the National Crime Squad, said: "We believe we have stopped a major skunk cannabis production line before the drug was sold and ended up on streets across the country.

"The sophistication of the growing room is an example of just how far organised criminal gangs will go to make profit out of drugs.

"This factory has the potential for large-scale continuous production, which could have made vast profits for the people involved in running this illicit operation."

The four people arrested are currently being questioned on suspicion of being concerned in the production of 'skunk' cannabis, a controlled drug.

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