Queensland police closed Operation Tango Handball, an 18-month investigation into a national syndicate producing and distributing cannabis, on 28 November 2022 with the arrest of 56 people on 166 charges.[1] The operation, which began in May 2021, identified and destroyed 12 commercially sized cannabis facilities in Queensland and New South Wales, seizing 107,180 plants with an estimated potential street value of $536 million, plus 636 kg of dried cannabis valued at $4.9 million and $379,700 in cash.[1]
The biggest single find came on 6 October, when police charged 14 people and uncovered 46,894 plants and seedlings in 51 greenhouses, each about 80 metres long, at Isis Central, a crop police valued at $234.5 million.[1][2] An earlier phase followed a July intercept of 200 kg of processed cannabis in a vehicle on the Warrego Highway at Helidon, leading to an August raid on a commercial grow in the South West valued near $40 million.[1]
Alleged head arrested in Victoria
On 25 November a 57-year-old woman, described as the alleged head of the syndicate, was arrested in Victoria and extradited to Brisbane, where she was charged with seven offences including extortion, trafficking and producing dangerous drugs and assault occasioning bodily harm.[1] She was remanded in custody to appear on 19 December.[1] Police appealed for information about the syndicate’s recruitment and exploitation of workers, staffing Vietnamese-speaking officers for the appeal.[1]
