Officers seizied 900 cannabis plants after discovering them growing in four separate houses in County Durham.
Durham Constabulary responded to an initial call relating to one address in Eldon Lane in Bishop Auckland on Friday, January 28.
Further investigative work and community engagement led officers and PCSOs from Neighbourhood teams to a carry out checks on three properties nearby and a significant number of cannabis plants were found.
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Approximately 900 plants were seized in total, some of which were mature enough to likely be sold in the next few days, and will be destroyed.
A spokesperson for Bishop Auckland Police said: "This incident is an example of how drugs and other crimes associated with them, can infiltrate a community – as a priority, we are committed to taking a sledgehammer to organised crime in the area and eliminating the knock-on effects it has on our local communities.
"We will always assess intelligence given to us which is invaluable for operations such as this one – to do so, please contact us on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers via their website www.crimestoppers-uk.org "
Inspector Peter Lonsdale from Bishop Auckland Neighbourhood Team said: "The team has done a fantastic job today in identifying a number of grows, showing a real willingness and ability to investigate and as a result has taken a very large quantity of drugs off the street and out of the hands of criminal gangs.
"This has been the first of many more to come successful local strikes against organised crime this year."
