Britain’s police forces have taken up cannabis cultivation, not because they’re blazing a new trail in law enforcement, but for reasons only the British could explain. Cannabis remains illegal, yet officers claim they’re just “holding it for a friend.”

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Hughes of Essex Police grins as he reveals their “pot of gold”—a climate-controlled warehouse for seized marijuana crops. With thousands invested in this evidence farm, British law enforcement may soon inspire a wave of “police cannabis grow ops” nationwide.