$500 million ... cannabis
haul gets bigger by the hour
July 04, 2008
16,000 more plants found
By JEREMY SOLLARS
IT'S enough to make drug dealers across the length
and breadth of Australia weep.
A cannabis haul on a property at Warroo near Inglewood
first uncovered on Tuesday had grown to a staggering $500 million
worth of the drug by the end of yesterday.
And with police vowing to search every square
metre of the 1735ha former sheep property, it could go higher.
Officers searching the rugged "Kinvarra"
yesterday discovered 16,000 more live plants, adding to the
4000 already seized.
A single cannabis plant has a street value of
around $2500, making it Queensland's biggest dope bust and possibly
the biggest in Australia.
Eight tonnes of dried cannabis alone has so far
been found on "Kinvarra", as well as 14,000 drying
plants in sheds and under tarpaulins.
As reported yesterday, police arrested a father
and son after receiving information from the public about the
plantation, with the pair appearing in Warwick Magistrates Court
on Wednesday.
Michael Bennett Gardner Senior, 54, and Michael
Bennett Gardner Junior, 28, were both refused bail and were
remanded in custody, to appear again in court on August 27.
The pair is charged with offences related to drug
cultivation and firearms possession and police are now understood
to be searching for accomplices or "crop sitters",
part of whose role is to tend and water growing plants.
The former owner of "Kinvarra", who
declined to be identified, told the Daily News yesterday neighbours
had "ideas something funny was going on" but had not
been sure exactly what.
He said he sold the traprock property four years
ago after owning it for 17 years.
"When I bought it it was very inaccessible,
all four-wheel drive country, but when I got hold of it I got
a dozer contractor to put roads in," he said.
"Where they've found (the drugs) is a place
called Shepherd's Flat, I cleared and raked it and it's a good
little area, in between two big hills.
"There are plenty of springs in that country."
$42m marijuana crop found
Article from: The Courier-Mail
By Robyn Ironside
July 02, 2008 11:20am
POLICE have uncovered about 17,000 cannabis plants
- estimated to have a street value of $42 million - in one of
Queensland's biggest marijuana hauls.
Up
to 3000 mature cannabis plants and more than 14,000 drying plants
were discovered during police raids on the property "Kinvarra"
on Hollybank Rd, Waroo, near Inglewood in the state's south.
Sixty 200-litre drums of harvested cannabis were
also found in two massive sheds covering 1800sq m - or twice
the size of an average suburban block.
Police southern region crime co-ordinator Detective
Inspector Noel Ragh said public assistance and good police work
had prevented enormous amounts of the drugs from being distributed.
"The public is the eyes and ears of the Queensland
Police Service; without their support our job would be that
much harder," Insp Ragh said.
"Today's seizure is the culmination of months
of intelligence and investigation. The result speaks for itself."
Police
Minister Judy Spence congratulated all the officers involved
in the raids.
"I understand this is one of the largest
marijuana crops ever uncovered in Queensland," she said.
"This shows that police are successfully
targeting large-scale drug production and will continue to crack
down on illegal drugs in this state."
A 54-year-old man and his 28-year-old son were
arrested by police and charged with possessing and producing
a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of a handgun and other
offences.
They will appear in the Warwick Magistrate's Court
today.
State Drug Squad Acting Detective Inspector Kerry
Johnson said the seizure highlighted the organised and dangerous
nature of cannabis production.
"Investigators
allegedly located a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol when they
went to a house to speak to two men about the cannabis,"
Insp Johnson said.
"The gun was allegedly found in a house in
a location which made it readily accessible, it was loaded,
with a magazine fitted and a round in the chamber.
"The production of cannabis remains a highly
organised and profitable activity with the people involved prepared
to go to great lengths to protect their investment."
IN A separate incident, a 62-year-old man was arrested yesterday
after more than 300 marijuana plants were found at a property
outside Innisfail.
Police
searched the address about 3.30pm and charged the man with producing
a dangerous drug, possession of property used in commission
of a crime, possession of property suspected of being obtained
in commission of a crime, and possession of dangerous drugs
in excess of the schedule.
He is due to appear in Innisfail Magistrates Court
on July 27.
