Inside of Gala Bingo in Kettering which was being used as a giant cannabis factory (Picture: SWNS)

A drugs gang was using a former bingo hall to grow cannabis.

Police found £2.8 million worth of the drug at the disused Gala Bingo Hall in Kettering High Street this morning.

Officers were stunned when they uncovered 2,000 plants at the derelict building after initially becoming suspicious when they smelled marijuana coming from the location.

But they didn’t actually think they’d find a massive drugs operation.


Pictures showed every inch of floor space taken up with cannabis plants along with sophisticated hydroponic cultivation equipment.

PC Colin Gray said: ‘This is a significant find that will disrupt organised crime groups and the distribution of cannabis locally and further afield.



‘It is one of the largest I have seen even when compared to a site we found in Corby earlier this year.’

The cannabis plants inside the bingo hall (Picture: SWNS)

The cannabis plants inside the bingo hall (Picture: SWNS)

The former bingo hall in Kettering (Picture: SWNS)

Drugs worth £2.8 million were found (Picture: SWNS)

Police raided the former Gala Bingo hall this morning (Picture: SWNS)

Police seized 2,000 plants (Picture: SWNS)

Thermal imaging revealed heat sources coming from the building despite lying empty since January, which further raised eyebrows.

Around 25 officers, along with dogs, stormed the building at 10.30am.

They also seized growing equipment.

Police became suspicious when they smelled cannabis coming from the derelict bingo hall (Picture: SWNS)

No arrests have been made (Picture: SWNS)

Emergency services at the bingo hall this morning (Picture: SWNS)

PC Gray added: ‘These crime groups blight society by manufacturing and selling controlled drugs in Northamptonshire.

‘We will never stop trying to bring them down and this type of activity will continue.’

The plants were three weeks away from harvest and distribution, with police saying the operation could have generated around £2.8 million each year.

Nobody was inside the cannabis factory but the bingo hall’s kitchen had been in use.

No arrests have made.

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