FOUR people have been charged after police unearthed more than $7 million worth of cannabis in the New England.
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The two men and two women were arrested during a four-day operation which saw three raids near Uralla; Wytaliba, near Glen Innes; and bushland near Glencoe.
Specialist police from the State Crime Command's Drug and Firearms Squad were backed by New England police; the Western Region Enforcement Squad (RES); as well as the dog unit to raid the properties.
Across the four days, police uncovered 3619 cannabis plants which they claim could fetch $7.2 million on the street.
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Police used a search warrant to find some of the plants on a property at Wytaliba; along with a crime scene warrant to search a farm at Rocky River, out of Uralla; as well as bushland near Mt Mitchell, near Glencoe.
The men and women, all aged between 57 and 68, were arrested by police and are now facing drug-related offences. They will front court at a later date.
Police said the raids were sparked as part of an ongoing investigation into outdoor cannabis cultivation.
Investigations by the Drug and Firearms Squad are continuing, a police spokesperson confirmed.
Similar police raids have unfolded in the past. Operations like the force's Cannabis Eradication Program has seen tens of millions of dollars worth of cannabis seized in the New England in recent years.
In 2018, more than $8 million of cannabis plants was seized across the New England in similar raids; while in 2016 $8.3 million worth of cannabis was uncovered in a secret operation near Glen Innes, Tenterfield and Guyra.