Cannabis plantation hidden in underground container

Authorities have discovered a buried 20-foot container that was being used to grow cannabis in a field near the village of Xylotympou inside the jurisdiction of the British bases (SBA)

Inside the container, which could only be accessed through a hatch, officers found 32 plastic pots with cannabis plants measuring 30 centimetres, around one kilo of the drug spread on the ground, and cultivation equipment.

Police arrested the 41-year-old owner of the field who told officers that a small quantity of homemade explosive was also stored in a port inside the container. The substance was destroyed by the SBA bomb squad. The man has been remanded in custody for eight days.

The suspect, who was known to police, had been placed under surveillance by Cyprus police following a tip off that he was picking up a suspicious package from a bonded warehouse in the Dhali area on Monday.

Drug squad officers allowed the man to pick up two boxes before stepping in to inquire about their contents.

The suspect claimed they contained pesticides used in farming but officers later found fertiliser used for the rapid growth of cannabis.

Drug squad officers received the man’s permission to search his enclosed field outside Xylotympou, in SBA territory.

Bases police along with drug squad officers checked the field without however finding anything at first.

“Officers saw a field with dog kennels, but got suspicious by the fact that the kennels were elevated,” SBA police chief inspector Marcos Petrou said.

“A closer search revealed that under the kennels there was a trap door leading deep into the ground.”

Officers went down the hatch and found a 20-foot container, which the suspect allegedly buried. The container was covered with concrete on which the kennels had been placed.

Three dogs found on the property were handed over to members of the suspect’s family.

SBA police continued their investigation on Wednesday, collecting evidence from the container.