Nearly 2,000 cannabis plants worth £3.2m seized in Cowdenbeath
Police found just under 2,000 cannabis plants worth an estimated £3.2 million in a warehouse on Gateside Industrial Estate, Cowdenbeath, on 8 May 2025. A 70-year-old man was arrested and released pending enquiries, with a later report saying three men were reported to the procurator fiscal.
🇬🇧 Gateside Industrial Estate, Cowdenbeath · United Kingdom
·
Arrested
1
Charged
3
Plants destroyed
2,000
Value (official estimate)
GBP 3,200,000
Police arrested a 70-year-old man after finding a cannabis cultivation inside a
warehouse on the Gateside Industrial Estate in Cowdenbeath.[1]The man was
released pending further enquiries.[2]A later report to the Cowdenbeath Area
Committee said three men had been reported to the procurator fiscal, Scotland’s
prosecutor, over the cultivation.[3]
Police valued the plants at an estimated street value of £3.2 million.[1]
The Gateside seizure was described as the largest seizure in the Cowdenbeath
area’s 2025/26 drug recoveries, which police put at more than £3.739 million
across heroin, cocaine and cannabis.[3]Police said cannabis accounted for the
main bulk of recoveries over the 12 months.[3]Police linked such activity to
serious and organised crime and human trafficking, saying vulnerable people can
be forced or coerced into tending cultivation sites.[3]Police urged the
public to report suspected drug dealing to Police Scotland or Crimestoppers.[3]
The annual £3.739 million total covers heroin, cocaine and cannabis together and is not counted as a cannabis figure.
The plant count is approximate as sources say just under 2,000 plants, so the report uses 2,000.
Early police and BBC accounts report one 70-year-old man arrested and released pending enquiries, while the later committee report says three men were reported to the procurator fiscal, leaving unclear whether additional suspects were identified.
The incident date of 8 May 2025 comes from Police Scotland and the BBC; the submitted Central Fife Times article was published on 2 November 2026.
Whether the lead photograph on the submitted page depicts the Gateside seizure could not be established from its caption, so no media entry is included.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Police Scotland: Officers carrying out routine enquiries entered the warehouse at about 10.30am on 8 May 2025 and seized just under 2,000 cannabis plants.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Central Fife Times: Police warned that cannabis cultivation sites often involve bypassed electricity meters and unsafe installations, creating heightened risk of fire and danger to neighbouring properties.
Gwent Police Special officers seized a quantity of cannabis during a stop search in Newport city centre. The search was carried out under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act during proactive patrols.
Border Force officers found about 12 tonnes of cannabis in 1,200 boxes in two shipping containers from Canada at Southampton Port on 6 May 2026, the agency's largest cannabis seizure. Police in south Wales arrested three people on 16 June over the importation.
Greater Manchester Police seized about two tonnes of cannabis worth around £24 million at Leigh Tenement Farm in Blackrod on 9 January 2026, one of the largest UK seizures on record. Two Bolton men were charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis and remanded in custody.
Border Force and the National Crime Agency seized 26,924 kg of cannabis from about 750 couriers flying into UK airports in 2024, nearly five times the 2023 total. Most couriers arrived from Thailand, Canada and the United States, recruited by organised crime groups exploiting legally grown foreign cannabis.
