With assistance from the Special Operations Group, Air Wing, Western Region Crime Squad and Brimbank Divisional Response Unit, warrants were executed last week at two large rural properties in Dunluce and Kamarooka, as well as residential addresses in Deer Park and Maryborough.
On Wednesday, November 29, with the assistance of the Air Wing, the Special Operations Group roped into a 40-hectare property on Bendigo-Tennyson Rd in Kamarooka, 21km west of Elmore.
A number of greenhouses containing more than 1800 cannabis plants (weighing about 600kg) in various stages of maturity were found.
Three Vietnamese nationals at the address, a 29-year-old man, a 31-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman, were all charged with cultivate large commercial quantity of cannabis.
The trio was remanded to appear at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on March 6.
Organised Crime Division’s Detective Superintendent Dave Cowan said it was a significant result for police.
“The arrest of eight people and the seizure of over $11 million worth of illicit drugs is an enormous win for these regional communities,” Supt Cowan said.
“Drugs are a significant driver of crime and community harm across the state and remain a strong focus for Victoria Police.
“These properties are incredibly remote and there were a number of sophisticated measures in place in an attempt to remain undetected by authorities.
“Organised crime entities living in rural parts of the state who think their distance from the city affords them anonymity or impunity — you are sadly mistaken. You will be held to account no matter where you are. It is as simple as that.”
