Detectives from Queensland’s Drug and Serious Crime Group charged eleven people after search warrants on 28 and 29 July 2023 at two isolated rural properties used for commercial cannabis production, one at Coonambula in the North Burnett and one at Mount Maria in the Gladstone region.[1][2] Police called the protracted investigation Operation Victor Alon and linked the properties to an alleged syndicate supplying markets interstate.[1][2]
On 28 July officers raided the Coonambula property and found eleven 50-metre greenhouses holding 4,932 plants from seedlings to full maturity, plus dried and drying cannabis valued altogether at $24.7 million.[1][2] Four people were taken into custody at the scene without incident, three from Victoria aged 30, 55 and 38 and a 41-year-old Queensland man from Avenell Heights, and each was charged with producing and possessing dangerous drugs and possessing items used in the crime; a fifth man, aged 39 from Urangan, was arrested the next day arriving with more growing equipment.[1][2]
On 29 July officers raided the Mount Maria property and found fifteen sophisticated hydroponic greenhouses with 6,189 plants and 564.23 kilos of dried cannabis in the greenhouses, a shed and the house, valued at $35.3 million.[1][2] Six men working there ran into nearby bushland and were caught with the dog squad’s help; two Victorians aged 45 and 48 and four New South Wales men aged 26 to 38 were charged with drug production and possession offences.[1][2]
In total police reported about $60 million of cannabis seized, and credited community tip-offs for the result.[1][2] A small quantity of cocaine also found at Mount Maria is a separate matter left out of this report.[1][2]
