Operation Mille has seized around £3 million in drugs as part of their national operation.
Police forces from across the country came together to coordinate search warrants with the aim of disrupting organised crime groups and their illegal revenue streams.
Between 17 February and 21 February, officers in all four districts of South Yorkshire executed 17 drug warrants – resulting in over 3,000 cannabis plants being seized and 13 people arrested.
Detective Chief Inspector Samuel Blakemore of South Yorkshire Police said: “We know that cannabis cultivations are often linked to organised criminality and exploitation of vulnerable people. It is important that people are aware of the connection between drugs and violent crime.”
Across the week of action, a total of 3,281 plants were seized. It is estimated that the total value of the plants is thought to be around £3,280,000.
The plants have been seized and will be destroyed.
Detective Superintendent Fiona Gaffney, Deputy Head of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, led the response across the Yorkshire and Humber region.
She said: “Officers have conducted 58 warrants throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region in a coordinated approach to targeting commercial cannabis production and the crime networks who profit from it.
“Commercial cannabis production is heavily connected to wider criminality. These people routinely use serious violence and the threat of it to protect their trade and challenge the opposition.”
In an early morning raid at a property on Townhead Road, in Dore, Sheffield, over 500 plants were seized. As officers investigated the extensive farm, two men attempting to hide in the loft were detained.
Sadik Sula, 24, of no fixed home and Renato Vrapi, 26, of no fixed home, have been charged with acquiring/using/possessing criminal property and producing a controlled drug – cannabis.
Over in Barnsley, officers discovered a cannabis farm at an address on Bartholomew Street, in Wombwell.
Spread across the property’s loft, cellar and two bedrooms, it contained around 300 plants and a man was detained at the scene.
Dung Tran Phu, 35, of Bartholomew Street, is charged with producing a controlled drug – cannabis.
Approximately 1,500 plants were unearthed in another farm in Doncaster Gate, Rotherham. As well as the plants, three large bags of cannabis bud were also seized.
In Doncaster, officers seized approximately 500 plants at two properties in Cooper Street and Childers Street.
So far, across the Yorkshire and Humber region, Operation Mille has led to 29 arrests, an estimated 8,716 cannabis plants with a street value of more than £8.7 million have been seized.
Cocaine along with weapons including five machetes, two CS cannisters and an axe were also discovered as part of the operation.