Ballymena: two men sentenced after discovery of sophisticated cannabis farm
Police say they believe Chinese and western Balkan individuals were involved in the running of a sophisticated cannabis farm in Co Antrim.
Speaking after two men were sentenced in court on Friday for drugs-related offences following the discovery of the farm in September 2023, a senior PSN officer said if undetected, the operation would have been capable of making hundreds of thousands of pounds.
At Antrim Crown Court, 47-year-old Lin Wang, whose address was listed as Broughshane Street in Ballymena was sentenced to 24 months for cultivating cannabis and possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply.
Co-accused 60-year-old Robert McMitchell, of Whitehouse Park, Newtownabbey, was handed 200 hours community service, after previously pleading guilty to permitting production of Class B controlled drugs on a premises and possessing criminal property.
Detective Inspector Kelly from the PSNI Organised Crime Unit said: “On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, local police officers conducted a planned search of business premises owned by Robert McMitchell in Broughshane Street, Ballymena.
"A large and sophisticated cannabis cultivation operation was discovered which required specialist PSNI resources to dismantle. The premises had no electrical supply and a feed had been obtained by digging up a stretch of ground and taking it from the mains supply on the road outside.
"The cultivation was spread over four rooms and there were over 300 plants in the property at various stages of growth.
"Lin Wang was arrested in an adjoining premises and we believed that he was responsible for maintaining the cultivation operation.
"Officers conducted further searches at two additional premises in Ballymena and believed one premises to contain a partly dismantled grow while the other was used for storage of cultivation equipment.
"Police also located a large amount of cash in sterling and euros during subsequent searches, which is the subject of ongoing criminal property proceedings.”
Det Insp Kelly continued: “This was clearly a well organised operation, which bore all the hallmarks of organised criminal gang involvement. Those involved were clearly motivated by greed. We believe Chinese and Western Balkan individuals were involved in the running of this operation. Had this cannabis farm been left to operate, it would have been capable of making hundreds of thousands of pounds over a number of harvests.
"Once harvested, these drugs would have made their way to other criminal groups who are only interested in money and community control.
"Help from the public is crucial to our work. If you have information about drug misuse or supply in your area, you can contact us directly by calling 101 or online at http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/
"Alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.”