$15m haul

[Tom]

HOMES in south-west Sydney, where police have seized $15 million in marijuana during raids, may be part of an elaborate hydroponic growing network.

 

Since April police have discovered 5000 marijuana plants growing in almost a dozen houses.

 

Detective Inspector Gus Viera, head of the Wetherill Park region enforcement squad, said detectives had not ruled out a connection between the houses.

 

"Investigations into any possible link are ongoing," he said. The most recent raids, on November 7, netted 415 hydroponically grown cannabis plants worth an estimated $2 million from two houses in Rawson Road, Fairfield West. A man and woman were charged.

 

The raids were part of Operation Plante, which so far has resulted in 16 arrests and 60 charges being laid. "This operation is about stopping the cultivation and distribution of dangerous drugs," Inspector Viera said.

 

"We have already significantly dented this distribution network and stopped a large quantity of cannabis hitting the streets." He said the methods used to grow the marijuana pointed to "sophisticated criminal minds" being responsible.

 

"It would take a lot of money to set up one of these drug houses in the first place, so that money has to be there initially and that means we are dealing with something very organised. The plants that have been seized have all been in various stages of growth, from mature plants ready for harvest down to seedlings."

 

Police believe the crops were intended for sale in NSW.

 

Inspector Viera said the drug houses were appearing in south-west Sydney houses because of relatively cheap rents.

 

Police would continue the crackdown on hydroponic set-ups for as long as necessary, he said.

 

 

 

 

Author: Angela Cuming

Date: November 25, 2007

Source: www.smh.com.au

Copyright: Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald.

 

[mull]

Can just imagine the statements if alcohol remained prohibited. When they raid a dozen homes to find poly home brew setups, fabricated by sophisticated criminal minds...

 

Police seized 415 poly beer vats from 2 houses today. The criminal masterminds supply has been dented severely. Estimated 2 million dollars worth of prohibited poison won't make the streets for xmas. At $4820 per vat, or $80 per stubby, that's a significant win for the war on personal choice.

 

[iamnotacop]

Police would continue the crackdown on hydroponic set-ups for as long as necessary, he said.

 

They should be more worried about Meth Labs.

[Tom]

The most recent raids, on November 7, netted 415 hydroponically grown cannabis plants worth an estimated $2 million

Just did the maths on that and it seems that they are valuing each plant at $4,819.28, lets say the growers were pretty good and they get around four dry ounces of heads off each plant which would make their sale price per ounce $1204.82, are these coppers mathematically illiterate or are they just that far out of touch with reality?

 

[sunnycoaststoner]

"sophisticated criminal minds" hahahaha yeah you must be one of these if you want to grow some mj hey, FUCKWITS. lmao

[pipeman]

"sophisticated criminal minds" hahahaha yeah you must be one of these if you want to grow some mj hey, FUCKWITS. lmao

 

perhaps he meant sophisticated when compared to the mind of an ignorant pig.

[67Special]

I think you're right pipe, the cops are just pissed that they're too retarded to grow their own, so they resort to stealing it from those who can.

[jimbojones5678]

Just did the maths on that and it seems that they are valuing each plant at $4,819.28, lets say the growers were pretty good and they get around four dry ounces of heads off each plant which would make their sale price per ounce $1204.82, are these coppers mathematically illiterate or are they just that far out of touch with reality?

 

Or is it that they are calculating the value by 1grm = $20?

 

Jimbo

[BentBuddha]

They may not be far off the mark really. With Sydneys prices i mean. I heard pnds were $4500 in sydney. (Anyone confirm?). I'm pulling roughly a pnd and a half per plant, and i'm just an average grower with less than 2yrs up my sleave experience, so if i were in sydney, that would be over 6k per plant. Cops dramatise and exagerate for sure, but they may not be far off the mark this time. I think they are kidding themselves if they think that this bust will make the slightest difference in the supply of weed in nsw. I think if the average australian knew how much is consumed by all smokers, they would realise just how futile it is for police to waste their efforts like this. You just need to sit outside any hydroshop and you see customers come in and out all day. Times that by how many shops there are and you get a vague idea just how many growers are out there. And these are just the hobby growers. The seriously commercial growers come and get their stuff after hours in large vans or small trucks.

 

Silly piggies. I wouldn't be suprised if some of them had their own set ups.

[Al B. Fuct]

Just did the maths on that and it seems that they are valuing each plant at $4,819.28, lets say the growers were pretty good and they get around four dry ounces of heads off each plant which would make their sale price per ounce $1204.82, are these coppers mathematically illiterate or are they just that far out of touch with reality?

 

 

Tom, I've been taking note on the 'cop price' for weed for a few years now. Before Morris Iemma took office as Premier of NSW, the Sydney papers were quoting the cops at $1000 per plant. Post Iemma, it's $3000 per plant. Every once in a while, especially when the suspect has been uncooperative or if there's other drugs or weapons involved, the coppers quote $4000 per plant.

 

Of course, it's a ridiculous overestimation designed to make growing cannabis sound like a much bigger crime than it is.

 

Due to the demonisation of high plant counts in media bust stories, SoG growers like myself, who don't really grow tonnes but depend on relatively large numbers of small plants to grow only the top cola for quality's sake, are really taking a much bigger risk than just a few years ago. Iemma's plant-count and hydroponic laws are giving me pause for thought- but I'm not considering shutting down, just improving security...