Four houses in Blair Athol had been raided since Monday 12 May 2008, yielding more than a thousand cannabis plants worth about $8 million, and two more houses were raided on Friday 16 May, taking the week’s total to six houses.[1][2] Police said a crime gang was behind the cluster of secret farms, with the houses fitted out with false walls, secret tunnels, hidden corridors and dedicated growing rooms to conceal sophisticated hydroponic set-ups.[1][2]
Just after 8am on Friday, officers raided houses at The Kraal Drive and Mary Brown Place, seizing hundreds of cannabis plants and hydroponics equipment.[2] Two men at the first home and a man and woman at the second were arrested, and a young child was removed from the Mary Brown Place address.[2] Police estimated each plant was worth more than $5,000 and put the week’s haul at around $10 million in total.[2]
A house in nearby Bradbury had also been raided the previous week, and besides the four people arrested on Friday, a 51-year-old Bradbury man and a 54-year-old Blair Athol man were arrested after the raids began.[2] Police thanked residents whose tip-offs helped uncover the operation and urged neighbours to report strange smells, heavy fortifications or odd comings and goings.[2]
