About 1200 cannabis plants worth about $2.4 million have been seized after police uncovered a massive hydroponic set-up in Port Kembla early on Friday morning.
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Five men were arrested about 2am in a drug bust that netted 570 hydroponic plants in a factory on Flinders Street and hundreds more at a second site in Unanderra.
Police described it as one of the most elaborate hydroponic enterprises they’ve ever seen.
The drug bust happened while two general duties officers from Lake Illawarra LAC were conducting early morning patrols in Port Kembla.
After noticing suspicious activity at industrial premises on Flinders Street, the officers investigated and allegedly found five men involved in an elaborate indoor cultivation process with about 570 cannabis plants.
The officers called for back-up and the men were arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station.
A search warrant executed by Lake Illawarra Drug Unit at the premises also revealed about 110kg of cannabis leaf and a large amount of equipment used in the cultivation process.
Further investigations conducted by detectives also identified another factory at Doyle Avenue, Unanderra, where it is alleged the same group were cultivating cannabis plants.
Detectives are currently searching these premises, however it is alleged that a further 616 cannabis plants were being grown in a sophisticated enterprise.
Altogether, about 1200 cannabis plants and 110 kilograms of cannabis leaf have been seized.
Police said the cannabis had a combined potential street value of $2.4 million.
The five men arrested, aged 44, 41, 28, and two aged 24, have been charged with the cultivation of a large commercial quantity of cannabis, and have been refused bail to appear before Wollongong Local Court on Saturday.
Lake Illawarra LAC Commander Superintendent Zoran Dzevlan, praised the actions of officers which led to the discovery.
“I’ve never seen such a sophisticated hydroponic enterprise,’’ Supt Dzevlan said.
‘’These results were not achieved by chance, but as a result of the old-fashion instinctive traits that police officers have, together with dedicated and persistent police work.
“Importantly, this has resulted in almost two and a half million dollars in drugs being removed from our streets.’’
Investigators urge any person with information concerning the cultivation of cannabis at either of these locations, to contact Lake Illawarra Police via Crime Stoppers.