Brimbank crime: St Albans, Taylors Lakes, Deer Park on cannabis crop house crackdown

Hundreds of cannabis plants — worth almost $2m — has been seized from half a dozen Brimbank grow houses. Find out if the hydroponic setups were in your neighbourhood.

Cannabis plants sit in the driveway of a home raided by Brimbank CIU. Picture: Victoria Police

Almost $2 million worth of cannabis has been seized in a massive drug haul by Brimbank police.

Detectives from Brimbank crime investigation unit raided six properties in St Albans, Taylors Lakes, Deer Park, Delahey, Derrimut and Keilor Downs this week in a major crack down on clandestine hydroponic set ups.

Acting Detective Sergeant Jarrod Turner told the Leader on Friday, 600 plants with an estimated street value of $1.8 million were confiscated.

Two men, a 46-year-old St Albans man and a 20-year-old Delahey man, were arrested and remanded in custody.

A third 41-year-old Derrimut man was charged and bailed.

Tips from members of the public helped police identify some of the grow houses. Picture: Victoria Police

Acting Sgt Turner said crop houses posed a serious fire risk to neighbouring homes.

Investigations were ongoing and he warned anyone operating an illegal grow house in Brimbank should expect a knock on the door by police.

“One of the significant issues for us is the safety issue in relation to the electricity that is bypassed, a lot of the time it’s not insulated,” Act-Sgt Turner said.

“(These crop houses were) a bit of a mixture of reports through to Crime Stoppers, irregular power consumption, and some were detected through the Air Wing.”

All three men were charged with trafficking, cultivation and theft offences.

The Delahey man was also charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of cannabis.

Anyone with information about a suspicious home in their area is encouraged to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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