A sophisticated drug operation, likened to a plot from a Guy Ritchie film, has been dismantled after police discovered an underground network of cannabis farms hidden beneath a Lincolnshire farm.
The Underground Discovery
Acting on intelligence from Spanish authorities, Lincolnshire Police raided Thorpe Farm in Skendleby on September 3, 2020. What they uncovered was a scene straight out of cinema: four shipping containers buried 20 feet underground, accessible only through concealed hatches hidden within farm barns.
Inside these custom-built bunkers, officers found a thriving illegal enterprise. The containers were equipped with full growing infrastructure, including lighting, ventilation fans, and air filtration systems. In total, police recovered more than 600 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of up to £800,000.
The Defendants and Their Sentences
Two men were arrested at the scene and later faced sentencing. Nathan Allen, 39, from Peterborough, admitted to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis and possession of a firearm without a certificate. A shotgun attributed to him was also recovered during the raid.
Allen was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days. The court heard he had already spent nearly four months in jail.
Kyle Robinson, 33, from Alford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis. He received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must also complete 160 hours of unpaid work. Robinson claimed he was initially employed to look after the animals on the farm, which included 22 horses and a llama, before being switched to security for the cannabis grow. He stated he never entered the underground bunkers.
A third man, Tony Owen, 36, of Bretton, Peterborough, will be sentenced for his involvement on 15 December.
A Cinematic Operation
The sophistication of the operation drew immediate comparisons to Guy Ritchie's 2019 film The Gentlemen, and its subsequent Netflix series, which feature underground drug farms built beneath aristocratic estates.
Detective Sergeant Lee Papworth of Lincolnshire Police, who led the investigation known as Operation Industry, expressed his astonishment at the scale of the find. "I've been in the force for 10 years and I've not seen anything like this, certainly to this scale," he said. "This one's quite unique in the organisation that it needed and the resources they must have had."
The investigation began after the Spanish Guardia Civil and HMRC uncovered a similar sophisticated underground factory in Spain, leading to intelligence being passed to UK authorities.
