Two people were arrested after police seized suspected cannabis plants in the Strabane area.[1] The two arrested people remained in custody.[1]

The seizure was made during a planned search operation on Wednesday.[1] Police put the estimated street value of the seized suspected plants at £1.4 million.[1] Police said they had dismantled what is believed to be one of the biggest suspected cannabis operations in the north west in recent years.[1] Detective Inspector Pyper said row after row of suspected cannabis plants filled two floors of the building in a large, sophisticated suspected operation.[1] Searches remained ongoing and paraphernalia connected to drugs cultivation and supply had also been seized.[1]

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Organised Crime Branch carried out the operation while investigating suspected drugs criminality linked to the INLA.[1] Derry City and Strabane Commander Gillian Kearney said large-scale drug operations are linked to organised crime gangs who will do anything to make money with no care for the harm they cause in communities.[1]