Throughout June 2023, all 43 police forces across England and Wales worked with the National Crime Agency and Immigration Enforcement to search large-scale cannabis grows in Operation Mille, the most significant national operation of its kind ever run across UK law enforcement.[1][2] About 11,000 officers coordinated 1,013 warrants and searches against organised crime groups that use cannabis cultivation as a key source of illicit revenue.[1][2]

Police seized 182,422 plants with an estimated street value of GBP 115-130 million and arrested 967 people for offences including cultivation, drugs supply, money laundering and weapons possession.[1][2] Officers also seized 20 firearms, GBP 636,000 in cash and cocaine, put at 26 kilogrammes by the NPCC and 20 kilogrammes by the BBC.[1][2] More than 450 of those arrested had since been charged.[2]

NPCC serious and organised crime lead Steve Jupp said the operation disrupted a significant amount of criminal activity and that cannabis networks were also linked to Class A drug importation, modern slavery and wider violence and exploitation.[1] He said the intelligence gathered would inform future law enforcement work across the country.[1]