MORE than 500 cannabis plants and a large amount of cash were seized when police raided a farmhouse in a north Herefordshire village last week.

As part of a crack down on county lines drugs gangs, police executed a warrant in Downton in the Rock and have previously said the factory could have earned £3million per year.

West Mercia Police said they are working tirelessly to target organised crime, and during the raid on Wednesday, May 15 they also found a Vietnamese man who was in the country illegally.

Superintendent Sue Thomas, Policing Commander for Herefordshire said: "This operation comes at a time when we are working tirelessly to reduce the County Lines crime as well target Organised Crime Groups (OCG's) in and around our counties. On the day, we seized and destroyed more than 500 cannabis plants, incinerated a number of industrial sized bags full of ready-to-sell cannabis buds and seized paraphernalia estimated at several hundred thousand pounds.

"We also arrested a Vietnamese man who was in the country illegally. He was charged and remanded to court.

"This operation demonstrates how determined we are to deal with serious crimes in order to keep our communities safe from the impact of drugs. People in Herefordshire and Shropshire deserve to be safe and free from organised criminality like this and teams such as the Hereford LPPT are out there every day making a real difference to people's lives.

"Enquiries are now ongoing to identify those responsible and bring them to justice and anyone who may have any information regarding this incident can contact us on 101."

Between May 13 and 20 police forces across the UK carried out a crackdown co-ordinated by the National County Lines Coordination Centre, seizing £312,649 in cash and 46 weapons.