A gang who ran a cannabis farm worth £2 million inside a nuclear bunker have given handed jail sentences.
Martin Fillery, Ross Winter and Plamen Nguyen all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce class B drugs and conspiracy to abstract electricity.
Martin Fillery also pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property (money laundering).
Fillery received eight years in prison and Winter and Nguyen each received five-year jail terms.
The three men created a cannabis farm comprising more than 4,000 plants inside a disused underground nuclear bunker at Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ) Chilmark in Wiltshire – and also siphoned electricity worth £650,000 from a pylon outside.
Fillery, Winter and Nguyen locked “gardeners” inside so that they could tend their plants 24 hours a day, with almost every room inside the bunker transformed into a space to grow cannabis or prepare it for sale.
The farm had the capacity to produce a crop every six weeks, but was raided by police in February 2017. It is thought it had in operation since 2013.
Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wessex Amanda Sawetz said:
“This was a high-value cannabis farm hidden from sight in a disused nuclear bunker.
“Fillery, Winter and Nguyen ran a sophisticated operation, visiting at night – and having people live inside the bunker to act as gardeners for the farm.
“Their lighting system alone cost £140,000 – and a well had been drilled to provide water for their plants.
“This was an unusual case, but the evidence presented by the CPS – following an investigation by Wiltshire Police – saw the three defendants plead guilty to producing cannabis.”
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