CANNABIS-GROWING facility found by gardaí in Co Meath was being readied to produce a crop valued at €1.4 million every eight weeks

14:04 CANNABIS-GROWING facility found by gardaí in Co Meath was being readied to produce a crop valued at €1.4 million every eight weeks 0 Comments

CANNABIS-GROWING facility found by gardaí in Co Meath was being readied to produce a crop valued at €1.4 million every eight weeks and is both the largest and most sophisticated operation of its kind ever found in the State.

Senior Garda sources said the premises were in the process of being doubled in size and when fully constructed would have been capable of producing a cannabis crop every eight weeks with a street value of €1.4 million.

“This was an industrial-sized operation in the true sense,” said one Garda source.

The discovery was made at Bective near Trim in Co Meath on Wednesday afternoon.

Some 1,720 plants valued at €680,000 were found growing on the premises.

A timber-framed extension was being added to the warehouse that would have doubled the floor size and enabled the simultaneous cultivation of just under 3,500 cannabis plants.

An examination of the warehouse and farm has revealed the Irish gang behind the operation was using techniques never seen in the Republic before.

Rows of high-wattage lights needed to generate sufficient light and heat to grow the cannabis crop had been attached to generators designed to kick in and ensure the crop continued to grow in the event of a power cut.

The warehouse walls and doors had been covered in a specialist spray-on insulation to maintain high levels of heat in the warehouse.