Two people have been arrested and a cannabis factory was closed yesterday in a day-long police crack down.

Newham police have been sweeping the borough with the Territorial Support Group, Safer Transport, Traffic, Dogs, and Specialist Crime units as part of London-wide Operation Big Wing.

A total of 13 warrants have been carried out by officers targeting gangs who are suspected of stealing phones and selling them on, with groups often linked to burglary or drug-dealing.

The “sophisticated” cannabis factory was discovered spread across three bedrooms in a house on Neville Road, Forest Gate, with growing equipment in five rooms.

Officers dismantled the factory, seized the plants as evidence, and returned the property to its lawful owner who had unknowingly rented it out to criminals via an estate agent.

Four and a half kilograms of compressed, herbal cannabis was also found at a property in Boleyn Road, East Ham, in vacuum bags.

A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and on suspicion of importation of Class B drugs and on suspicion of converting criminal property.

He was questioned at an east London police station and released on bail.