Cannabis grower's secret £100k stash discovered in Kent woodland by police

A secret stash of cannabis, worth £100,000 ($130,381), has been discovered hidden in Kent woodland by police.

Kent Police found the large-scale operation concealed in a forested area close to Fawkham Road, West Kingsdown, in the Sevenoaks District of the county.

Police searched the woods where they found two areas containing 492 cannabis plants worth about £100,000 in street value once the plant had been cultivated.

Police said the grower will be disappointed their hard gardening work had gone to waste after the operation on Monday (4 September).

The force added that the seizure of the plants was just four to six weeks away from being ready to harvest.

No arrests have been made after the open-air discovery.

Detective Inspector Graham Curtis, of Kent Police, said that the offender may have been working on the crop for a month before the seizure.

"Those responsible for this criminal enterprise have spent a considerable amount of time cultivating the plants," Curtis said in a statement released by the force.

"With a street value of approximately £100,000, somebody will no doubt be disappointed to hear there will not be a return on months' worth of horticultural effort.

"We have made and continue to make extensive enquiries to identify the offenders."

On 15 May, a cannabis gang operating in Kent and Norfolk were convicted of running one of Britain's biggest-ever cannabis farm operations after 16,428 cannabis plants were seized in multiple locations.

Ringleader Michael Edward Corcoran, 51, and his gang were jailed for a total of 90 years after cultivating potent strains of 'skunk' worth £50m in specially-constructed two-storey wooden sheds.