A Melbourne man has been sentenced to 21 months’ jail after pleading guilty to operating an elaborate hydroponic cannabis grow house at Morwell in Victoria’s east.[1] Police raided a double-storey house at 119 Vincent Road, Morwell owned by Ahn Tu Vu, 46 of Caroline Springs, Melbourne, on July 16, 2016 and seized 96 cannabis plants weighing 17 kilograms.[1] Vu purchased the property after arriving in Australia from Vietnam.[1] Vu pleaded guilty to two charges of cultivating cannabis and stealing electricity.[1]
The Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court heard the home was fitted with $50,000 worth of highly sophisticated equipment.[1] White tarpaulins covered the floors, walls and windows of four bedrooms upstairs.[1] The court heard lights with large white shades were hanging from the ceiling in rows.[1] Hoses connected to a bathroom distributed water and fertilizer to the cannabis plants in big black pots.[1] Fans, extension cords, power boards, four mobile telephones and bottles of fertilizer were found downstairs.[1] The prosecutor told the court an electricity bypass system had been set up, allowing Vu to steal thousands of dollars’ worth of power over a three-month period.[1] Electricity retailer SP Ausnet put the value of stolen power at $14,000.[1]
Vu’s lawyer told the court Vu had been encouraged into the operation by others.[1] In documents tendered in court, detectives alleged Vu was involved in an organised crime syndicate.[1] His arrest was part of an investigation into a syndicate of hydroponic cannabis grow houses in the Latrobe Valley.[1] Vu is expected to appeal against the sentence.[1]
