Six charged as police uncover rural cannabis operation worth $66.8m

Six people have been charged after police uncovered almost 20,000 cannabis plants at an “isolated and secluded” property in western NSW, worth a record $67 million.

Strike Force Harthouse was established in 2019 to investigate the cultivation and supply of cannabis across the state and uncovered a rural property in Dandry, about 35km north of Coonabarabran, which was allegedly used for the large-scale cultivation of cannabis.

The alleged crime syndicate has been described by police as a Vietnamese crime gang with “international connections”.

Detectives executed a crime scene warrant at the Newell Highway property from 8am Tuesday and have since seized 19,082 cannabis plants.

The plants have an estimated potential street value of $66.8 million, with police saying the operation is expected to continue over the coming days.

Drug and Firearms Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent John Watson, said the seizure of more than 19,000 cannabis plants is believed to be a national record.

Over the past six months detectives have been operating mainly in regional NSW, especially in the western region.

“More than 19,000 cannabis plants, the biggest in Australia’s history, was seized,” he told reporters.

Superintendent Watson said the property was extremely “isolated and secluded” with 90,000 metres cleared for the alleged criminal enterprise.

Five men and one woman, aged between 23 and 42, were arrested and taken to Dubbo and Coonabarabran Police Stations.

All six were charged with cultivate prohibited plant (large commercial quantity cannabis), knowingly take part cultivate (large commercial quantity cannabis) and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.

They were refused bail to appear at Coonamble Local Court on Wednesday, with the Department of Home Affairs looking into the visa status of the group.

Superintendent Watson said about 90,000 square metres of land was “illegally cleared” at the property to make way for 22 greenhouses containing the cannabis plants “at various stages of maturity”.

“A lot of money has been invested into the property, which we allege existed purely for cannabis cultivation,” he said.

“In terms of scale, this is one of the largest and most commercial cannabis enterprises we’ve seen – with significant infrastructure, including two large dams, commercial generators, earth moving equipment, across multiple sites, all of which require attention from workers seven days a week.”

Superintendent Watson described the syndicate as a “Vietnamese crime syndicate” with international connections, who were allegedly “exploiting regional areas”.

“Their isolation has no value to the local communities at all, they damage the environment, and I can tell you the proceeds of these activities end up overseas or otherwise diverted into other illicit activities,” he said.

Police believe the operation was in place on the property for up to six months, describing it as “elaborate” in terms of watering features such as manmade dams.

There was also earthmoving equipment and complex infrastructure, according to police.

The 22 greenhouses were about 75 metres in length and more than 25 metres wide, “full of illicit cannabis crop”.

Superintendent Watson said the site was “purpose built” and the biggest in Australia’s history.

“There’s probably more than about 65 officers that were used in this particular operation yesterday, including the dog squad,” he said.

“I won’t be ruling out more arrests.”

State Crime Commander, Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith, said police continue to see serious and organised crime groups exploit regional areas for cannabis cultivation as part of their business model.

“These types of operations have no regard for the environment or local community and are utilised by criminals only because the crop cycle for cannabis is relatively short – which can mean a quick source of revenue if successful,” Assistant Commissioner Smith said.

“This particular cannabis crop has resulted in the yield of around 11.5 tonnes of high-end cannabis. This was a sophisticated processing plant with the sole purpose of preparing the commodity for market.”

Assistant Commissioner Smith said the cash sales from the crop would have “flowed through poker machines of regional pubs, clubs and casinos around the state” and sent offshore to fund other alleged criminal activities.

“These sorts of syndicates are global, diversified and ubiquitous, and involve substantial amounts of planning using Dedicated Encrypted Communication Devices (DECDs), which are beyond the reach of authorities,” he said.

“It remains one of the highest priorities of NSW Police to dismantle the ability of criminals to obtain illicit proceeds and disrupt their operations – just as we’ve done yesterday.”

Investigations under Strike Force Harthouse are continuing.