Anh Hoang: Melbourne hairdresser jailed over huge Bendigo cannabis crop

Police have revealed how a box of chicken fingers helped expose a drug dealing farmer responsible for a 192kg “industrial” cannabis crop in Bendigo.

Fingerprints found on a box of chicken breast fingers at an “industrial” cannabis growing operation near Bendigo became a key piece of evidence, a court has been told.

Police discovered a sophisticated hydroponic grow house set up within a four-bed Eaglehawk property on August 18, 2020, however no one was present at the time.

Using cellphone records and DNA evidence from a laptop, broken phone and box of chicken breast fingers, detectives identified a suspect – a 24-year-old former hairdresser from Wyndham Vale.

Anh Hoang, a Vietnamese national who was studying in Melbourne, was arrested a month later, after investigators searched a Truganina storage unit and found equipment used in the production of cannabis.

Hoang faced the County Court on Thursday for sentencing after pleading guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis the week before.

The court heard he had lived in Melbourne since 2016 and was studying to become a chef when the pandemic forced the closure of his hairdressing workplace.

Left without financial support, the 24-year-old man was “struggling” when he was approached by a man offering $3000 cash to care for a cannabis crop in Bendigo.

When the Eaglehawk home was raided on August 18, police described the converted home as a “sophisticated growhouse”.

Prosecutor Madeline Sargent told the court six rooms had been erected using drywall with insulation, exhaust fans, charcoal filters and an irrigation system to grow 223 cannabis plants.

She said the house had been bought the year prior with fake documentation lodged to the tenancy authority to “pretend” people were living there and there was an illegal electrical bypass to avoid detection.

Hoang’s lawyer, Martin Kozlowski, said he did not use drugs and had been motivated by the promise of $3000 once the harvest was completed.

“He aspired to become a chef,” he said. “At the imposition of Covid-19 he found himself struggling financially and was persuaded to become a crop sitter.

“He said he’s sorry for what he’s done to Australia.”

Sentencing Hoang to four years and three months imprisonment, Judge Justin Hannebery said while there was no evidence Hoang was involved in the distribution of cannabis, his role in the “extensive operation” was serious.

“Your presence at the property was more than fleeting,” he said. “You were involved in the task of caring for the crop.”

“The reality is that deterring people from becoming involved in these types of enterprises for financial reasons is a necessary effort.”

The court heard as a foreign national, Hoang has had a difficult time in prison on remand and was subject to assault and bullying.

It’s expected he will be deported from Australia after the minimum non-parole period of two years and nine months ends.