Almost 1,000 cannabis plants worth around £4m were discovered in the basement of an abandoned pub in Bootle.
Officers from Merseyside Police found 999 plants after executing a warrant at the former Linacre pub on Linacre Lane on Wednesday.
It was also found that the electricity being used to grow the plants was being was being stolen from somewhere nearby.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "Merseyside Police executed a warrant at a former pub in Bootle today (Wednesday 24 April) and recovered nearly 1,000 cannabis plants.
"A warrant was executed by Sefton Community Policing Team at the former Linacre pub on Linacre Lane where 999 plants were recovered along with growing equipment spread across eight rooms in the two story basement of a pub.
"The electricity was also found to have been abstracted [diverted from another source].
"The estimated annual yield of the cannabis farm would have been almost £4 million."
Matt Brown, manager of the force’s Cannabis Dismantling Team, said: "Criminal groups involved in the growing of cannabis are often involved in other serious organised crime and will use any property they can, often in the heart of our communities, to grow cannabis.
"Our communities can help us stop these groups, who are only interested in making money, from turning houses and business premises into potential death traps.
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“Nobody wants to live or work next door to these places and we would ask that if you believe someone is using a property for this purpose, please tell us so we can take positive action and find those responsible for setting them up."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101 quoting incident reference 19100199976 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.
