A five-story building in New York City was raided by police this week, revealing that the entire structure was being used as a multi-tiered marijuana farm.

Police said that four of the floors appeared to be designated to individual stages of the plants’ growth, with the most mature on the top floor.

The building also had expensive filtration and watering systems to keep plants healthy and nosy neighbors about their own business, according to NBC New York.

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Officers recovered almost 600 marijuana plants, along with 75 pounds of buds that had been prepared for sale. In total, some 1,550 pounds of illegal plants were pulled out of the building.

Three men, ages 23-25, were arrested in the raid. It is not clear if they were solely responsible.

This video is from NBC New York, broadcast Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.