Drug grown in garage, court told

A Shellharbour man accused of cultivating more than 150 cannabis plants in an "elaborate" set-up in his garage has been granted bail to return to the house.Leonard Anthony Nuesink, 66, had admitted to police that he cultivated the plants - worth $760,000 - for more than 21/2 years and sold small quantities of the drug, Wollongong Local Court heard yesterday. It was alleged police found two elaborate hydroponic systems during a search of Nuesink's Old Bass Point Rd home on Monday afternoon. They had received a tip-off.Artificial lighting, air-conditioning units and a 31kg carbon dioxide gas cylinder with timers had been installed, police facts said.Nuesink allegedly told police he had paid an unknown man $500 to connect the electricity in the garage to bypass the meter box, with a switch that would automatically cut off power if the supplier conducted a test of the meter.Police said about 1.8kg of dry cannabis leaf and another 900g in two plastic bags also were found.Nuesink has not yet entered pleas to charges of having cultivated a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant, supplying cannabis and using electricity without authority.In his bail application, the court heard he had returned home after having surgery just hours before his arrest.Nuesink had no prior criminal record and was unlikely to reoffend, lawyer Graeme Morrison said.Magistrate Paul Johnson granted bail on condition a friend deposit $5000 surety. Nuesink will reappear in Wollongong Local Court on August 19.