Divisional Tasking Unit police from Wangaratta and Wodonga joined Whitfield police and forensic officers from Melbourne to raid a 35-hectare vineyard outside Cheshunt at 9.30am on Monday 18 March 2013.[1] Between 4,000 and 6,000 almost-mature cannabis plants were growing under neglected vines, hidden from the eighth row back in the 49-row vineyard while cannabis-free rows and a farmhouse fronted the road.[1] Officers began pulling up the crop, a job expected to take days, for later destruction once weighed.[1]
Two charged
James Stammers, 65, and Alam Noor, 38, both of New South Wales, were charged at Benalla Magistrates Court and remanded in custody without applying for bail.[1] The pair had rented the vineyard for six to nine months without arousing the suspicions of locals.[1] Sergeant Damien Loiterton called it the biggest crop he had seen in 10 years and said the find followed a protracted investigation, with the plants about a month from harvest.[1] The crop’s reported street value was £12 million.[1] Stammers and Noor were due back at Wangaratta Magistrates Court on 13 June.[1]
