Queensland detectives from the Crime and Intelligence Command’s Drug and Serious Crime Group have charged two men for their involvement in a sophisticated cannabis cultivation operation.
The charges comes after multiple raids were conducted at properties in Inala, Acacia Ridge, Slacks Creek, and Loganholme on November 19th.
At the industrial properties, hydroponic growing equipment worth more than $175,000 was seized, as well as $100,000 in cash and two vehicles. Across the four properties, 395 cannabis plants were found, along with 94.6 kilograms of dried cannabis flower. Police allege the total value of the cannabis to be worth more than $1.61 million.
A 33-year-old Inala man and a 29-year-old Acacia Ridge man have been charged with 29 offences, including trafficking, producing and possessing ‘dangerous drugs’.
It’s quite ironic that the Queensland police continue to call cannabis a dangerous drug, yet the majority of Australia’s medical cannabis patients reside in Queensland.
Detective Acting Superintendent Troy Pukallus remained committed to fighting the failing war on drugs.
The people who run these operations are committing criminal offences and they are often involved in international drug and crime syndicates. Every drug type police seize contributes to the safety of our community.
In this particular case, the two men arrested were Minh Van Nguyen and Hung Viet Do. Names of Vietnamese descent, the country currently responsible for producing a vast majority of Australia’s black market cannabis.
Stopping these international drug syndicates should be a priority – but it’s clear the currently system of cannabis prohibition clearly isn’t working. Despite these major seizures by Australian police around the country, it does nothing to stop Australians from consuming cannabis.
We know because research conducted by our own government has shown us that in 2020, Australians are consuming record levels of cannabis.
Millions of taxpayers dollars and countless hours of police resources are still being spent on fighting the cannabis black market, yet it doesn’t even make a dent in the industry.
If you’re curious, here’s a video of the raid showing you just how sophisticated these setups are. They know what they’re doing and they’ve been doing it for a long time.