Cops video taping hydro shops?

[aussie1]

Got a call yesterday from someone who purchases supplies from a gold coast hydro

shop. It was to pass the message to a friend of mine who also purchases stuff from down that way.

 

He said he got a call from the hydro shop on his mobile telling him to not go near the place.

He was told that cops come and go with their video cameras, filming customers, and presumably

rego numbers, then go off to get a search warrant. He (shop owner) said that this was how the

recent gold coast busts eventuated.

 

Other plans were made between them to enable the trade of supplies to continue, but not out of the

shop.

 

Is this so far fetched that it beggars belief or can they do this?

 

You could be growing orchids or organic vegies or whatever... I would not think just purchasing

goods from a hydro shop would be grounds for a warrant.

Can they get regos, then possibly check power bills for confirmation of possible illegal activities.

Even still, I have heard people bitchin' about power bills that are way high and they don't grow,

so a large bill is proof of nothing.

 

I am really peeved because my friend gives me lots of goodies, but when I tell them this bit of news

I think they will pull the pin on it all...

 

Any thoughts on this...Is it crap or what???

[jimbojones5678]

I don't know the truth but I've had a similar warning from a hydro retailer before - he said that the cops had started sitting in an opposite eatery and were taking down license plates

 

Kinda spooked me for a while - can't imagine what benefit he could have had for lying to me, cause I sure didn't like that shop anymore after hearing that...

 

I guess you just have to do the best you can - I use another persons car to visit the shop now

 

try not to get too paranoid about it

 

Jimbo

[X3rx3Z]

It definately smells like them! Ebay / the web is always a good place to buy.

[bignose007]

I'm a Gold Coaster....................do you know what area/shops etc were watched????

[OrbitTime]

It's more than possible. I've seen police at hydro shops before. It comes down to whether the resources are available to the police and in turn will it generate busts to vindicate the money spent for high-fiving politicians and their 'tough on crime' spin. I've always been of the view that hydro-shops are watched, at least periodically, and as such I don't drive a car that's registered with the same address as where I grow. It's also why I only ever use cash and never a credit card. I can't believe people buy hydro gear with credit cards for their mull grows, but they do.

 

As you've pointed out the police can get addresses by car registrations, and they can do that without a warrent. They can also roll-by the addresses to look at the property, is it unkempt like a stoner house might be? Is there an over-kill on security on the house, like grill windows and grill doors? Is there odd air vents and exhaust structures on the property? Is there litter like empty hyro containers and other tell-tale stuff lying around? Light leaks? Smell? Weird fan sounds? There's nothing stopping a cop from sneaking around your house (unless you have a good dog) and then lying later about how the evidence was gained. Police are liars, period. The police can even take the garbage if the bin is on the kerb (public land) without a warrant. If they find roots, stems and other materials indicating Cannabis, they will get a warrent. This is why composting or burying all Canna-waste is a must. Nothing ever goes into a garbage bin.

 

If you're growing commercial scale and the cops have stumbled onto the address by a registration check by a video-stakeout on a hydro-shop, it's just a question of time for a bust. Buy in bulk, purchase twice a year at the most, and use a car not rego'ed to where you grow!

Edited January 2, 2010 by OrbitTime

[Rocker]

I would expect hydro shops to be on the watch list but then I have a tendency toward paranioa.

 

Here on the coast there are two shops that are very close together. I travel the road they are on often but see cop cars infrequently.

However there are a few unmarked cop cars operating in the area as well.

 

Maybe it is best to travel by bus to these stores.

 

It gives me the shits that Australia is becoming a country we wont be able to breath in without being watched and photographed.

The downside of the IT age is we are losing our privacy.

[bbud666]

hey aussie1... it wouldnt be to much of a surprise if they are doing that.. the bastards can do what ever they want, especially if your local pollies are after some stats to make themselves look good.. ive noticed the helicopter doing ALOT of looking around this area lately and im in nsw not qld.. so perhaps they are having a new years crackdown or somthing.. but in any case i usually buy my supplies online specifically to avoid that kind of unwanted attention.. a place on ebay called discount hydro supplies is really good. you can contact them and buy offline/ebay, you get everything 5% cheaper as well.. heres a link to them if you wanna check em out. http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/Discount-Hydroponic-Supplies__W0QQ_armrsZ1

 

i get most of my gear from them..they are great to deal with.. i usually get the stuff the next day although i imagine it would take 2 or 3 to get to qld.. cheers..

[brick]

Maybe they are watching the hydro shops and taking numbers to flush out the hydro shops who may be growing themselves(not on the premises) like they did in Adelaide, they would be taking rego numbers to see if there were any numbers that matched people who may be of interest (known dealers etc). Has there been any bikie activity up there?

[aussie1]

Thanks for all replies,

Good info and tips in there.

 

Jimbo...Yes my first thought was why would hydro retailer lie? He has gone to the trouble

of contacting those that he can, and it will cause a major disruption to his business, some

customers will probably bail on him altogether and he will lose business so I can't see any

other reason for him to say this.

 

And using another car is definitely the best option, as well as going well away from these

particular premises. I would lend them mine, but I still have many remnants from my grow

days such as bits of equipment etc...and sometimes I babysit clones for them, so another

car is definitely the go..

 

Ebay... I'm not sure if that is really safe...who knows what powers the pigs are gaining...

scouring retailers order books etc...but could send it to another address...

 

Orbit...Lots of hints and tips..thank you... will be sure to double and triple check those

things

 

Rocker... Pretty sure I know the 2 shops you're talking about...Scott/Natasha in one, and

across the road and down a little is Rick ( not mentioning shop names deliberately..if you

need the names pm me)... and unfortunately they have been targeted... as has one more...

 

BigNose... If you do not know the shops I am referring to pm me as I don't won't to ruin

anyones business reputation by mouthing off online so that anyone can come along and search

for posts like these and decide to not do business with them...

 

The retailer that actually made the call to my friend is Danny as it was his shop that the cops

got the info to do the busts...again if you don't know where his shop is then pm me...

 

But I would say that the pigs would be doing the rounds at all of them as apparently they have

had a huge funding boost to their narc squad and need to produce results to justify it.

 

Brissie would be an alternative...and the suggestion by Orbit is brilliant to buy in bulk so you

are not a regular fixture going in and out of the shops all of the time...

 

I never watch the news and apparently some or all of these busts made the news. I can only

find info on one of them and it was 125 plants...not your average grow so there may have been

more to the story than just the cops randomly watching hydro shops... If the government are

going to hand out cash to narc squads just to sit around filming people going in and out of shops

wouldn't it just be easier to ban the bloody shops...make them illegal. It almost like they want

people to break the law by having everything so easily accessible, but they alsao want to catch

them...

 

When I handed most of my equipment over to my friend as I wanted to give up the grow and they

wanted to start...I told them to never throw anything in their bin or their neighbours...bag all evidence

up into small shopping bags and go down to the wheelie bins down the beach...there is one every 50

metres...and all of the beach goers and picnickers are always throwing bags of crap in there so you

wouldn't look out of place, and although I always threw my containers in my own wheelie I always

removed the labels from everything. In fact an easily removed label was one of the prerequisites

to buying a product.

 

So I think we can safely assume that this practice of video taping is going on...the question is what

can they actually doing with the info...what do they need to get a warrant...?

[Budman2012]

Hey great discussion so far ... A whole lot of important points

Like you said ... no reason to lie about it it is certainly nothing to take lightly or increase business ... so for a start , it's a much appreciated "leak" of info i'm sure ... other experience of the same thing suggest that this is indeed happening on some level.

True also ... that it's important to note that the reasons for this particular police activity could be varied ... maybe they are targeting previously identified suspects and trying to further their own operations or quest for an invasion warrant that way ... evidence gathering etc. I wonder how common it is ...

 

Not being able to afford much in the way of "hydroponic" equipment for Canna and Vegetable growing I don't have much to say on the matter ... but yeh ... I don't think there's any real reason to feel too "inconspicuous" yet ... if your a small time Hobbyist

 

Cheerz all ... stay safe

 

Budman