WA police pull 2,800 cannabis plants in South-West aerial raids
More than 30 Western Australia police spent five days winching into dense bush between Pemberton and Busselton in February 2009, ripping up about 2,800 cannabis plants worth an estimated $8 million. A 61-year-old man faced court in Busselton over cultivation and possession charges.
🇦🇺 South-West Western Australia, Pemberton to Busselton · Western Australia, Australia
Charged
1
Plants destroyed
2,800
Value (official estimate)
AUD 8,000,000
Western Australia detectives seized more than $8 million worth of cannabis plants from hidden plantations across the South-West after a week of aerial raids.[1][2]Detective Sergeant Paul Ford said police took about 2,800 plants from 100 sites stretching from Pemberton to Busselton in Operation Tall Timbers.[1][2]
Winched in from helicopters
Officers were winched from helicopters into dense bush to rip up and bag the well-established plants.[1][2]Ford said some were among the biggest he had seen, spread across 100 sites in thick, high scrub.[1][2]More than 30 police from the region carried out the operation over five days from 16 to 20 February.[1][2]The haul followed a first phase before Christmas in which more than 3,000 plants were taken from covert plantations.[1][2]
A 61-year-old man appeared in Busselton Magistrates Court on two counts of cultivating cannabis with intent to sell or supply and two counts of possession to sell or supply.[1][2]Police alleged he had 2.5 kg of cannabis as well as plants.[1][2]He was remanded on $10,000bail to seek legal advice without entering a plea.[1][2]
Both opened pages reprint the same ABC report, so the account rests on a single newsroom source.
The article gives no arrest date or place for the 61-year-old man; only his Busselton court appearance is reported.
No photograph of the raids with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
The more than 3,000 plants taken in the operation's first phase before Christmas 2008 are context here; only the February haul of about 2,800 plants is counted.
Far North police stopped a Holden sedan 30 km north of Marla on 5 November 2026 and arrested two Port Augusta men aged 21 and 22. Officers allegedly found a trafficable quantity of cannabis plus 33 four-litre casks and whisky; both men were charged with commercial drug trafficking and supplying liquor to a prescribed area.
Victoria Police raided an eight-hectare Devon Meadows property on 7 October 2025, arresting eight people who fled the site and seizing about 4,500 cannabis plants grown in gardening igloos that officers valued at AUD 15 million for later destruction.
Police searched a dozen districts around Nimbin over five days, seizing 1,790 cannabis plants worth $3.5 million. Seven people face cultivation charges.
New South Wales police raided a camouflaged syndicate plantation in isolated woodland near Dubbo on 29 January 2004, seizing more than 30,000 cannabis plants police valued at about $50 million. Twelve people, including sentries and three alleged ringleaders, were arrested.
