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A RAID on a south-west Queensland property which police had first thought had netted than $40 million worth of cannabis is in fact worth up to $500 million with police still uncovering more.
Police have found an extra 16,000 growing plants on top of the 4000 plants they found yesterday.
Today they also uncovered up to eight tonnes of dried plant.
"That undoubtedly makes this seizure far and away the largest seizure of cannabis ever in this state and would rank it among the most significant nationally,'' Detective Chief Superintendent Ross Barnett said today.
Supt Barnett said the raid at a 4000 acre property, named Kinvarra, at Waroo, near Inglewood yesterday, followed a tip-off from a member of the public but officers were surprised by the size of the crop.
He said police would continue investigations on the property for several days and would destroy the cannabis.
"With this unprecedented scale of product that we've uncovered, simply managing the evidence collection, distribution and destruction of that has been a significant task and it's still ongoing,'' he said.
A 54-year-old man and his 28-year-old son, who lived at the property, have been charged with producing and possessing a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of a handgun, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of a crime and possessing property suspected to have been used in connection with the commission of a drug offence.
They were remanded in custody to appear in the Warwick Magistrates Court on August 27.
Police are still searching for up to six people believed involved in the production of the crop.
Investigations are also continuing into business arrangements surrounding the crop.
"The other major focus of our investigation is establishing what the market was going to be, what the distribution network was going to be, who was going to get this, how was it going to be moved, who was going to get the profit from it?'' Supt Barnett said.
Link: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/07/03/13247_gold-coast-top-story.html
Police have found an extra 16,000 growing plants on top of the 4000 plants they found yesterday.
Today they also uncovered up to eight tonnes of dried plant.
"That undoubtedly makes this seizure far and away the largest seizure of cannabis ever in this state and would rank it among the most significant nationally,'' Detective Chief Superintendent Ross Barnett said today.
Supt Barnett said the raid at a 4000 acre property, named Kinvarra, at Waroo, near Inglewood yesterday, followed a tip-off from a member of the public but officers were surprised by the size of the crop.
He said police would continue investigations on the property for several days and would destroy the cannabis.
"With this unprecedented scale of product that we've uncovered, simply managing the evidence collection, distribution and destruction of that has been a significant task and it's still ongoing,'' he said.
A 54-year-old man and his 28-year-old son, who lived at the property, have been charged with producing and possessing a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of a handgun, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of a crime and possessing property suspected to have been used in connection with the commission of a drug offence.
They were remanded in custody to appear in the Warwick Magistrates Court on August 27.
Police are still searching for up to six people believed involved in the production of the crop.
Investigations are also continuing into business arrangements surrounding the crop.
"The other major focus of our investigation is establishing what the market was going to be, what the distribution network was going to be, who was going to get this, how was it going to be moved, who was going to get the profit from it?'' Supt Barnett said.
Link: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/07/03/13247_gold-coast-top-story.html