Police raids net $19m in marijuana

[weedjoy]

VICTORIA Police has seized marijuana valued at $19 million in an operation involving raids on at least one property each day for almost seven weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in hydroponic equipment was found in houses capable of producing $500,000 worth of marijuana every three months in new outer-suburban estates.

Vietnamese crime families are believed to have spent millions of dollars buying many of the 47 houses that were raided. Police say the move away from renting property for grow houses indicates the financial clout of those behind the trade.

Many of the houses were expected to be transformed back to rental properties after less than a year, giving drug kingpins a legitimate income.

Operation Taxa signals a shift in the police approach to marijuana production, from tactical operations requiring months of intelligence gathering to swift disruption that cuts supply and attacks criminal assets but leads to fewer immediate arrests.

The operation was the largest targeting marijuana in the past two years. It focused on Melbourne's outer north-west, but will be expanded as police gain more of an understanding of the scope of the problem. Every day, police receive at least one report of a grow house in Melbourne.

Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Steve Fontana said the sheer number of houses painted a troubling picture of the Victorian drug trade. ''About $19 million worth of crop has been seized, and that's without any effort,'' Mr Fontana said.

''Anecdotally, there's been some very large seizures of cannabis in other jurisdictions in Australia and they're saying a lot of it is coming from Victoria. So it's a big issue. There was a recent seizure [interstate] that was quite a large haul that certainly came from down here.

''When you look at the number of addresses we've been tackling it's certainly a concern.''

Mr Fontana said that as the operation expands, police would consider pushing for legislation that would control the purchase of hydroponic equipment, similar to laws enacted in South Australia and proposed in New South Wales.

Almost 6400 marijuana plants were seized from 14 suburbs, and 15 people were arrested. About 20 kilograms of dried cannabis was also seized during the operation, which started in September and finished earlier this month.

Detective Inspector Pat O'Brien, who directed the raids, said police had detected about 50 more houses that could be raided and the operation had only scratched the surface.

''This was a low-risk area in Victoria. It's not regulated, the perception was it wasn't being policed, and therefore they found it low risk in terms of the risk versus profit of drugs.

''We're reducing the amount of drugs hitting the street, those long-term investigations, they can produce two or three crops before we actually hit the place. This way we're getting in early and stopping it.''

Mr Fontana said police would investigate seizing some of the properties under unexplained wealth or proceeds of crime laws.

He said the number of plants seized indicated Victorians were far too casual about the risks posed by using marijuana and other illicit drugs.

''People think it's a soft drug, [that] it's not all that bad. It is bad for the health, but there's an attitude that it's only dope, there's nothing wrong with smoking it. There's really no safe use of cannabis . . And it's a driver of a lot of crime that we deal with today.''

 

 

Read more: http://www.theage.co...l#ixzz29HdudKz2

[Matanuska Thunder]

19 million in cannabis...yea, right

[up_in_smoke]

Asian weed has a strong foothold here. Its cheap (by the lb), nasty, does the trick and you need to dry it and trim it first before smoking it.

 

I smoke my own and when that runs out i go stone cold sober rather than consume that crud.

[hed]

19 million in cannabis...yea, right

 

thats only if its sold by the gram

[refer24]

''People think it's a soft drug, [that] it's not all that bad. It is bad for the health, but there's an attitude that it's only dope, there's nothing wrong with smoking it. There's really no safe use of cannabis . . And it's a driver of a lot of crime that we deal with today.''

 

Its 2012 not 1980 we have massive proof that states other wise.lying scum

 

Might start smoking tabacco then atleast its safe cos its sold legally

[Tracybee]

Control the purchase of hydroponic equipment...?

 

How long before shutting down sites such as this one?

 

I'm betting one year from now.

[refer24]

The Government could start by telling the truth about cannabis and then allow us as adults to make our own decisions on what we want to put into our own bodys

[STONEDAJ69]

Control the purchase of hydroponic equipment...?

 

How long before shutting down sites such as this one?

 

I'm betting one year from now.

 

 

They've done it in SA right now, quite effectively.

[-SLIPPER-]

 

 

 

They've done it in SA right now, quite effectively.

IMO the restrictions in SA are not effective.

People can still get their supplies from eBay, or mail order interstate.

[The Hash Nibbler]

I dont give a shit about massive asian crime syndicates getting busted.....cause they giving us a bad name. Everytime the $$$ comes before the Enjoyment and medical use of Cannabis, bad shit happens and then the cops clamp down on all of us.

 

Commercial growers like this are well financed, and organized, they grow for profit and only profit, couldnt give a shit about anyone.

Everybody gotta pay the bills, but theres a huge difference between paying the bills and financing a crime syndicate.

 

Greed........ be around as long as theres Money, and people who want more and more.....

 

Peace. Nibbler.