London - Police seized over a thousand plants in an illicit hydroponics operation at Kensington Palace today.
Royal Protection Racket officers raided the joint following a tip-off about sudden soaring electricity usage at one of the Palace's plush apartments.
The 6am raid saw specially trained sniffer dogs from the Met's K-9 division brought in to pinpoint the source of pungent fumes.
Some poorly cobbled together extractor fans had been detected belching out toxic gases all over the royal estate - although official residents had always denied any impropriety.
At one point this morning the raid became chaotic amid an unexpected fracas between sniffer mutts Pixie and Dixie and an unidentified dark pooch resident in the secure Kensington compound.
"We thought it must be one of Princess Michael of K*nt's pit bulls," a flunky commented, "on account of her husband's dodgy oligarch connections."
By late afternoon all the plants had been confiscated and loaded into a big police diamond jubilee street party** van.
The haul has been estimated as worth a cool fifty grand - something not to be sniffed at in these dire austerity times.
** Invitation only
