About 250 cannabis plants worth an estimated $500,000 have been seized after a Figtree home was raided overnight.
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Police arrested a 47-year-old woman and 27-year-old man at the Jacaranda Avenue property and charged them with cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis using hydroponic systems.
They will face Wollongong Local Court on Thursday.
Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth said the house was declared a crime scene and guarded by police overnight.
Forensic investigators and agronomists returned to the property on Thursday morning.
Neighbour Lorna Abercrombie, who has lived on the street for more than 40 years, said it was a “good, quiet” area.
"I was in the front bedroom last night and I could see something flashing on the wall,” Ms Abercrombie said.
“I saw a man and a woman running around but after a while it stopped and I went back to sleep.”
She then woke to “police vehicles everywhere”.
Mrs Abercrombie said she didn’t know much about her neighbours who lived in the house that she believed had been sold two years ago.
"I don't see them very often but if they walk past I say hello," she said.
Other neighbours were shocked by the police presence early on Thursday.
"You never saw people going in and out and the shutters were always closed. I guess you just don't know what's going on," one neighbour said.
This is the third raid on houses in the region this month.
On July 7, police from Lake Illawarra Target Action Group swooped on a Waratah Street, Windang property seizing plants and dried cannabis worth an estimated $875,000.
They allegedly uncovered a sophisticated enhanced hydroponic system of 55 cannabis plants and a large amount of dried cannabis. They will allege the power meter had been bypassed as part of the operation.
That swoop followed a similar raid on at Mount Saint Thomas property the same week, which allegedly netted plants worth $500,000.
Police believe the Mount Saint Thomas operation may be linked to a third grow house uncovered at Coniston last month.
More to come
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
