QUEENSLAND: Vietnamese students were used to babysit cannabis plants in a major Queensland-based drug operation that was producing more than $60 million worth of drugs annually, police allege.
Investigators have shut down the sophisticated hydroponic drug set-up, which is believed to be part of a lucrative syndicate that had spread to the state from Victoria and South Australia.
The operation was run out of a warehouse at Acacia Ridge, south of Brisbane, and police uncovered 20 hydroponic grow houses during raids across the state’s southeast.
The raids resulted in the seizure of 3704 cannabis plants and 45 kilograms of dried drugs worth a combined $20 million.
“This is the first time we’ve seen such a coordinated and really detailed way of doing this particular cannabis cultivation in Queensland,” Charlie Carver from the Australia Crime Commission said.
Police have charged 37 people following the six-month operation.
Most are from Vietnam, while a small number of Malaysians and two Australians are also among the alleged offenders.
The suspected head of the operation, an Australian man from Victoria, was arrested on Hamilton Island during a family holiday on Wednesday.
The majority of those arrested are being investigated by Australian Border Force for illegally overstaying, while a number of Vietnamese nationals on student visas used to babysit the plants are being probed for abusing the system.
“These type of operations are what we’re used to seeing in Victoria or South Australia,” Acting Detective Superintendent Mark Slater said.
“Part of what this network is trying to do is get a foothold in Queensland, with the drugs going interstate.”
Asked what impact the closure would have on the drugs market in Queensland, he said: “From our perspective a significant dent.
“But more so than that is the disruption and dismantlement of the syndicate which hopefully will prevent further expansion of criminal activities.”
Originally published as Qld police smash major drug syndicate.
