Drug and Firearms Squad detectives, backed by local officers and the Dog Unit, began a two-day operation at a property at Minimbah on Thursday 22 October 2020, then executed simultaneous search warrants at Melinga and Moorland on Friday.[1] The three properties sit near Taree on the New South Wales mid north coast, about 300 kilometres north of Sydney.[1][2]
At Minimbah police seized 5,593 plants plus 39 pounds (about 17.7 kilograms) of dried cannabis, worth a combined A$16.9 million, and on Friday they seized another 7,760 plants at the other two properties.[1] In total 13,353 plants came down, with a police-estimated potential street value above A$40 million.[1][2]
Arrests and Strike Force Harthouse
Six men were arrested at Minimbah on Thursday and eight more on Friday, all Vietnamese nationals, on charges of cultivating and supplying a prohibited drug in a large commercial quantity and participating in a criminal group; all 14 were refused bail.[1] Drug and Firearms Squad Commander Detective Superintendent John Watson said the haul was possibly the largest cannabis seizure in the country since the 1970s, noting the weather-controlled grow houses could turn over a crop about every 12 weeks.[2]
The raids were part of Strike Force Harthouse, set up about a year earlier by State Crime Command detectives with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to target large-scale cannabis cultivation and supply across the state.[1] Police said Harthouse had by then led to 33 arrests and the destruction of more than A$100 million worth of cannabis.[1][2] State Crime Commander Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said criminals were buying up farms from distressed farmers to hide crops among legitimate produce, and urged rural residents to report unusual activity to Crime Stoppers.[2]
