BUCKETS filled with cannabis and more than £12,000 in cash were discovered by police when they swooped on a drugs den.

Officers raided a house in Cheviot Close, Sharples, on Tuesday afternoon after receiving a tip-off.

They smashed through the door and detained two men, aged 42 and 24, who were inside the house.

The officers then made a fingertip search for drugs and found nine buckets full of cannabis tips from a crop which had been recently harvested.

The cannabis was found in an out-house attached to the back of the property.

It is thought the house was being used as a storage or distribution point for cannabis.

Officers discovered one of the men was in possession of thousands of pounds in cash and then discovered a further bunch of notes in an upstairs bedroom, totalling more than £12,000.

The men, who were local, were arrested on suspicion of possessing class B drugs with intent to supply. Both have been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Inspector Mark Peary said: “The Neighbourhood Policing Team for the Bolton East area will continue to make the possession and supply of illegal drugs a priority.

“This recovery and arrests should send a strong message to those wishing to partake in drugs-related activity that we will react quickly and decisively to any intelligence received.

“We will use the full weight of the law to ensure that they will not only go to prison, but will forfeit their assets and any other ill-gotten gains from their criminal activities.”

On Tuesday, police who raided a suspected drugs den in Farnworth, banned non-residents from entering the house.

A team of officers from the Farnworth Neighbourhood Policing Team smashed through the front door of a house in Victoria Court and issued a closure notice under laws set up to combat crackhouses. They struck after receiving intelligence from the community about the address being a possible hub for drug dealing, drug use and anti-social behaviour.