Residents in New South Wales’s Southern Highlands region might notice a strange (or familiar) smell in the air this week, as NSW Rural Fire Service incinerate nearly $4 million worth of cannabis.
The cannabis was uncovered after a police raid on a Wingello property on Tuesday, following investigations around the Southern Highlands region of NSW. When police arrived at the property, they uncovered three greenhouses, drying rooms, and sleeping quarters. Over 1800 cannabis plants have also been recovered, with a street value of around $3.75 million.
As a result of the raid, two Vietnamese men have been arrested and charged under the NSW Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act. The men, aged 37 and 53, were taken to Goulburn police station. If found guilty of cultivating cannabis in a large commercial quantity, they face twenty years in prison and a $550,000 fine each. Both men were refused bail at a Goulburn Local Court hearing on Wednesday.
Police believe the Marulan Street property was being used to cultivate, dry, and distribute marijuana throughout the Wollongong and greater Sydney areas. At this time, the property is still being searched, as police uncover the extent of the operation.
Just a month before the Southern Highlands Raid, NSW Police carried out one of their most successful months on record. Throughout April, police carried out five major raids, incinerating over $31.5 million of live cannabis plants.
Although cannabis usage is still illegal in NSW, most residents are in support of legalizing it for casual use. One of those residents commented on the NSW police’s Facebook post, after a $10.5 million raid was carried out in Sydney:
That could be $10.5 million worth of legal business and government tax if you just did us all a real solid and legalised it. Take business out of criminal hands. – Lewith M.
Or, as another commenter put it after April’s $2.3 Million raid:
Go the Colorado road. Legalize it, tax it and use the money in a constructive way. Use the money to educate and facilitate medical research in its use. – Darrel H