Three men who grew cannabis plead guilty to running a drug factory in a nuclear bunker
Three men have admitted their part in running a cannabis factory in a nuclear bunker, according to Telegraph.
Martin Fillery, 45, Plamen Nguyen, 27, and Ross Winter, 30, were producing class B drugs and abstracting electricity. More than 4,000 cannabis plants that could produce drugs worth of $2 million per year were found by the Wiltshire Police during a midnight raid on RGHQ Chilmark.
The bunker in which the three men were producing drugs was constructed in the 1980s to house local government in case of a nuclear attack during the Cold War. While the bunker is no longer owned by the Ministry of Defence, it is still intact, the nuclear blast doors making it almost impenetrable.
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Police intercepted the three men as they left the bunker. They used the keys found in the men’s possession to enter the bunker, which was powered by illegally abstracted electricity worth of £250,000.
The discovery was described as “the biggest cannabis factory we’ve ever had in Wiltshire and the South West region” by the Detective Inspector Simon Pope, of Wiltshire Police. “The isolated and secure nature of the location made the warrant particularly challenging,” he said. “The bunker itself had approximately 20 rooms inside over two floors, and almost every single room had been converted for the wholesale production of cannabis.”
“In addition to the growing rooms, there were drying rooms, nurseries and living quarters for the growers. It was a sophisticated set-up with an illegal connection to the mains electrical supply,” Pope added. “The lighting equipment alone seized from the site cost in the region of £140,000 and the setup was capable of producing a crop every six weeks. In all, it took approximately 10 days to completely search and clear the site.”
The three men were previously charged with holding persons in slavery or servitude, but the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. They will be sentenced on August 11.
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