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NEWS: Herald-Sun 25 May 03: Fire crew find $6m cannabis crop

BigTrancer

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Fire crew find $6m cannabis crop
By Rebecca Lang
25may03


A COMMERCIAL cannabis operation worth a staggering $6.4 million was uncovered by firefighters on Friday night during a house fire in Pennant Hills.

It is believed the fire started as a result of an electrical fault relating to the sophisticated lighting and hydroponic system used to cultivate the crop.
Police described the haul, which included more than 1300 plants and a large quantity of loose plant leaves, as one of the biggest ever found in western Sydney.

"This would be one of the biggest we've found so far; we've only recently started to increase our investigations in regards to hydroponics," Drug Squad Det Sgt Steve Nealon said.

"People don't think there's much money involved with cannabis when compared to harder drugs. But when you can yield $5000 from one plant ... it's a lot of money."

Firefighters were called to the home at 6pm on Friday. Once the fire was under control, firefighters alerted police and a team of Drug Squad detectives sealed off the area.

Detectives are yet to charge anyone in connection with the find, but they do have some leads. The Pennant Hills Rd home, which has been partially destroyed by the fire, was being rented out to tenants at the time of the fire.

The whole lower half of the home was taken up with plants in various stages of growth, from seedlings through to mature plants and cultivated leaf.

Police believe the occupants of the home fled when they failed to put out the fire, leaping a nearby fence and dropping a plastic garbage bag filled with cannabis leaf and electricity bills for the property totalling $900.

Police said the sophisticated operation included $40,000 worth of hydroponic equipment and lighting, supplies of plastic bags and commercial scales.

Det Sgt Nealon, who also heads the cannabis unit, said hydroponic plants fetched two to three times the street value of other plants.

"Hydroponic methods accelerate the growth of the plant and increase the yield," he said.

"With the indoor plants you can harvest just about everything.

"A mature hydro plant can fetch an estimated $5000."

Police investigations into the cannabis operation are continuing.

From: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6490533%255E421,00.html

Also: Police sieze $6.4m cannabis crop

BigTrancer :)
 
Cops are dickheads...they weigh the plants roots and all when they are wet. Off course a plant will end up being worth 5 grand. But in reality, the leaf and stem is trimmed away and thrown out intoi the tip. And once you actually pull the buds away from the plants, they still have to be dried and manicured. I reckon they should make police actually dry and cure plants that are wet to find its exact value, otherwise, anyone can be busted for commercial amounts, even if they only have a ounce worth on a plant,when wet it weighs over a pound..

FUCK DA POLICE!!!!!!
 
Still... 1300 plants is not an insignificant bust, they must be pretty happy about it.
 
Well the ppl who depend on commercial growers won't be too happy. Fuck, don't want to see another dry season like the one recently....doesn't bother me too much, but there are others who don't grow or have solid contacts....it's a shame...though I reckon who ever grew those 1300 plants were a bunch of dickheads. They must have overloaded the fucking main power board in an attempt to grow more in one SOG harvest. A 300 plant system in SOG is more than enough...I mean, how the fuck are they gonna pull that many plants per month and get rid of it...It's sad, but it's a good lesson for other growers....DON'T BE SO FUCKING GREEDY, PACE YOURSELF!! And off course, don't overload electricals, you're just asking for trouble.
 
That's a decent bust. Interesting to see that it wasn't the actual police to find the operation but through the carelessness of the growers. Live and learn people.
 
Yeah, actually that's a very good point Dirty Deed & nc. I've noted that in about 75% or more of articles I've seen, meth labs, bathroom chemists, or growers are busted through their own incompetence or greed, rather than sterling work by the fine folks in the Constabulary.

And yes, to attempt a growing operation with that many plants in a suburban house, is called 'asking to be caught'.

-plaz out-
 
Re: Yay Drug Squad!

plazma said:
Man, I'm at something of a loss as to how the fuck they worked out that 1 plant was worth $5000.

-plaz out-

the cop was speaking of hydro plants in general, and to be honest if yuor not making that off a plant you are really really falling short of your potential(in the eyes of a grower)
 
A 5grand plant would have to yield over a pound, and would probably be a fairly large plant....So, 5 grand is actually a fair bit. Hydro, especially SOG, which is what most all commercial growers employ, usually are only single cola plants that yield about 2-4 ounces a plant. But of course, SOG harvests are monthly, so it's more about the rate of supply than the yield of one crop as in the case of usual homegrown. So, yes, 5 grand is a fair bit. Unless the plants are from a high yielding variety of cuttings, getting over a pound from one plant in a SOG is very unlikely....

As for 6.4 million dollars??? Bullshit...

Peace Out

Dirty Deed
 
That's a giant haul for somewhere that close to the city. As the crow flies, Pennant Hills is 15-20kms from the CBD... You can go another 40km in the same direction (North West) before you get to the edge of the city. So it's on the border of the inner 1/3 of the city.

Look at the way he's worded it -
"People don't think there's much money involved with cannabis when compared to harder drugs. But when you can yield $5000 from one plant ... it's a lot of money."
. By using the word can, he's implying that is the highest potential sale value of the plant. He's not saying that even one will go for that much... So he's got his arse covered. The cops like to talk up their busts... Let the babies have their bottle ;)
 
good point.The cops do like to cover their arses and overinflate the evidence so they can get that next promotion. But I still believe that police have to be more scrutinous when dealing with the weight and value of drugs. For instance, a much smaller case, I know of someone who had a tenner of weed in their show..when the police found it, they weighed the weed up with the shoe and then charged him for having a dealable amount. This was later revoked in court, but you can see how oppurtunistic and malicious police can be. Also they should take drugs out of the baggie when they weigh them. A standard baggie can way around about .2 grams, so in the case of such drugs as lsd and meth, this could bring a normal possesion case into a supply charge. This I reckon is totally unfair, and the police are never left accountable when they make such erroneous claims.......

Peace Out

FUCK DA POLICE!!!
 
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