Hamlyn Terrace: Hydro housesitter Hoang Dang pleads guilty to growing 362 cannabis plants
A Vietnamese national from Bankstown has pleaded guilty to cultivating 362 cannabis plants in a rented house at Hamlyn Terrace.
Central Coast
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A 24-year-old man from Bankstown will be sentenced in Gosford District Court after pleading guilty to a single charge of cultivating 362 prohibited plants.
Hoang Giang Dang, of Bankstown, appeared via video link at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where two further charges of possessing and supplying a prohibited drug were withdrawn and dismissed.
Dang entered his plea through a Vietnamese interpreter with the court hearing he could not speak English.
An agreed set of police facts tendered to the court state police obtained a warrant to search a house on Louisiana Rd, at Hamlyn Terrace on December 10 last year after suspecting the property was being used to grow cannabis.
Police observed Dang park a silver Honda CRV in the driveway and walk inside about 3pm.
Around 5.30pm police watched Dang come back outside a number of times with numerous rubbish bags and take the red and yellow lid bins out for collection.
At 6.50pm police banged on the door but there was no answer so two officers entered the house through a ground floor window.
Once inside they noticed a mattress on the floor, two fridges and could hear exhaust fans running.
They found Dang in the kitchen where there was a “sophisticated hydroponics set up”.
Dang was wearing blue latex gloves and a box of similar gloves was located next to the mattress.
Police located 362 cannabis plants growing throughout the entire house except the double garage and original downstairs area.
The plants ranged in height from juvenile to more than 2m tall.
Throughout the house police found a significant amount of fertilisers, lighting (including 164 lamp shades), fans, electrical equipment, 156 digital transformers, charcoal air filters, a breathing respirator, a face mask and a set of digital scales.
They also found conveyancing paperwork for the sale of the property and a rental agreement showing it was leased to Hua Lee Wang.
Included in the paperwork were scanned copies of a NSW Drivers Licence, Westpac bank card and Medicare card.
The police facts state upon further investigation these identification documents turned out to be fake.
Dang was arrested and taken to Wyong Police Station where he was charged but not interviewed because an interpreter could not be arranged.
The facts state there was no evidence Dang was the owner or rented the property.
He will face Gosford District Court on September 9 to fix a sentencing date.