14 grow houses torn down with 2,613 plants in 2023-2026 ACT operation
ACT Policing's Operation Margate dismantled 14 cannabis grow houses and destroyed 2,613 plants worth about $9 million between 2023 and June 2026. Six offenders were arrested and charged, with houses worth about $4.6 million restrained for forfeiture.
🇦🇺 Australian Capital Territory · Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Arrested
6
Charged
6
Plants destroyed
2,613
Value (official estimate)
AUD 9,000,000
Operation Margate is an ongoing investigation which began in 2023 and targets
commercial cannabis cultivation by Vietnamese organised crime syndicates in the
ACT.[1]To date six offenders have been arrested, with five pleading guilty
and the sixth failing to appear.[1]One offender was extradited into the care
of Victoria Police for a Melbourne County Court warrant after ACT sentencing.[1]One offender was in detention awaiting deportation.[1]The Kaleen man was
arrested at the scene and charged with cultivating a commercial quantity,
possessing cultivation equipment, theft and unauthorised use of electricity.[2]
The Kaleen search found a sophisticated hydroponic set-up cultivating 156
cannabis plants.[2]Police found extensive indoor damage and wiring used to
bypass the electricity meter at Kaleen.[2]The Bonner search seized more than
190 cannabis plants.[3]A Vietnamese national believed involved in large-scale
cultivation fled before Bonner police arrived.[3]No arrests had then been
made in the Bonner case.[3]
Four rental grow houses caught fire in 2019 to 2023 from poor wiring, with no
fires since Operation Margate began.[1]
Photos and video
A police officer in blue overalls looking down at cannabis plants seized in the Kaleen grow house. Photo: ACT Policing Source: ACT PolicingA dark room filled with cannabis plants found in the Kaleen grow house. Photo: ACT Policing Source: ACT Policing
The 16 June 2026 date is the as-of date given in the June update; the article was published on 17 June 2026 and the operation began in 2023.
The report uses the official exact total of 2,613 plants and 14 houses; the June update rounds this as more than 2,600 plants and more than 14 houses.
The report uses the official $4.6 million restraint figure; the June update describes about $5 million still in forfeiture proceedings.
About $800,000 in hydroponic gear and the restrained houses are assets and equipment, so they are described in the text and excluded from the cannabis street-value figure.
The January 2025 Kaleen and May 2025 Bonner raids fall in the campaign period and are treated as part of the 14-house total, though the sources do not state the inclusion explicitly.
No sentence lengths were published for the five guilty pleas or the jailed Kaleen homeowner, and the outcome for the offender who failed to appear is unknown.
The annual report says one offender awaited deportation while the June update says one was deported, reflecting different reporting times.
The September 2026 phase with 1,586 plants, 70 kg and nine arrests is a separate later operation already recorded and is left out here.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Canberra Times: In its latest update police said six people had been arrested and charged with commercial cultivation, with one later sought by Victoria Police and another deported by the Border Force.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in ACT Policing: Police dismantled 14 grow houses within the ACT.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in ACT Policing: Police seized and destroyed 2,613 cannabis plants worth approximately $9 million in street value.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Canberra Times: In the past three years police tore down more than 14 grow houses, seizing and destroying more than 2,600 plants.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in ACT Policing: Four houses in the ACT and New South Wales were restrained by criminal-assets investigators, valued at about $4.6 million.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Canberra Times: As of June 16 four grow houses worth about $5 million remained subject to proceedings and could be forfeited.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Canberra Times: Adults in the ACT have been able to grow cannabis at home since 2020, but growing more than two plants a person or growing with hydroponics or artificial light or heat is a crime.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Canberra Times: Police called the set-ups highly sophisticated and said big gangs use the profits to fund other drug operations.
Victoria Police arrested and charged two Highett men, aged 48 and 67, after a 29 October 2026 warrant on Peace Street. Officers seized cannabis, hydroponic equipment and other drugs; one man is remanded and the other is on bail.
Hunter Valley police seized 280 plants at Denman on 29 September 2026 and 925 more at Muswellbrook and Singleton Heights on 1 October, taking Operation Cages to 1,465 plants worth about $4 million; two men, 36 and 56, were charged and refused bail.
Police searched 15 properties across the Australian Capital Territory and seized 1,586 cannabis plants, about 70 kg of dried cannabis, cash and six vehicles. Nine people were charged with criminal-group and drug offences in what police called their largest ever operation against grow houses.
Cooktown police charged a 63-year-old and a 38-year-old Bloomfield man after a search warrant at Bloodwood Road, Wujal Wujal, on 12 June 2026. Officers allegedly found 575 cannabis plants and more than 10 kilograms of dried cannabis; both men were issued notices to appear at Cooktown Magistrates Court on 15 July.
