Three men are expected to appear in court following the discovery of a “sophisticated” £500,000 cannabis farm outside Lurgan.
Two men – a 55-year-old and a 27-year-old – have been charged with cultivating cannabis and are expected to appear in Lisburn Magistrates’ Court this morning, Thursday, June 12.
A 66-year-old man has been charged with cultivating cannabis and permitting the production of a Class B controlled drug on premises. He is expected to appear before Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, June 27.
The arrests were made on Tuesday following a search of a property in the Colane Road area of Aghagallon.
Speaking at the time, Detective Inspector Conor Sweeney, of the PSNIs Organised Crime Branch, said: “This is the most sophisticated cannabis farm I have encountered.
“A substantial degree of engineering and investment has gone into the construction and concealment of this underground facility, which housed plants with an estimated street value of £500,000; however, this set-up is fundamentally dangerous and we have availed of the expertise of several partner agencies to make the site safe for officers to properly examine the scene and remove plants and equipment.”
He added: “Our investigation into the organised crime gang responsible for this farm will continue beyond these arrests. The motivation of criminal gangs is, and always has been, one thing: greed. They will happily exploit vulnerable people with addiction and debt issues in order to fuel this greed.
“As a police service, we rely heavily on the support of the public and need people to come forward with any information they have relating to such criminality.”
As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
