Aaron West fronts court charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis

A father-of-five arrested after a police raid that uncovered 60 cannabis plants growing in a shipping container in a South Geelong industrial estate has fronted court.

Aaron West, of Rockbank, was granted bail after a magistrate found exceptional circumstances were met in his case.

A father-of-five accused of being involved in a major cannabis growing operation in a Geelong industrial estate has been granted bail.

Rockbank’s Aaron West, who is in his late 30s, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Mr West has been charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable David Vanderpol told the court that on September 19, officers from the Geelong Divisional Response Unit raided a property on Gravel Pits Rd in South Geelong to look for drugs.

The court heard West’s alleged co-accused was in a work shed at the property at the time and allegedly directed officers towards a shipping container.

Inside police found a number of hessian bags containing dried cannabis, along with 20 small, 20 medium and 20 large cannabis plants, all in black buckets.

The weight of the dried cannabis was estimated to be about 45kg, Constable Vanderpol told the court, and the total weight of the haul was “not more” than 200kg.

An analysis of a CCTV hard drive found during the raid allegedly captured Mr West at the address on “no less than” 25 occasions between May 1 and September 18, 2024.

In the footage, he was allegedly seen dropping off soil and potting mix, as well as watering and tending to the cannabis plants.

Mr West was arrested at his Rockbank home on Tuesday.

His lawyer, barrister Matthew Kowalski, told the court there were a number of contested elements of the charges and what evidence the prosecution may bring.

Mr Kowalski told the court his client suffered from an ongoing gastric-intestinal condition.

“It’s a manageable condition, but highly burdensome and potentially highly dangerous on infection … prisons are prisons, they are hotbeds of infection.” Mr Kowalski said.

The court heard Mr West operated four laundromats across Melbourne’s west, and regularly travelled between them.

“He not only empties the money, but he watches the business, he acts as a roving security guard if you like,” Mr Kowalski said, asserting Mr West was the only one who could perform this role.

Magistrate Kimberly Swadesir asked what happened when Mr West took a break.

“This man doesn’t break,” Mr Kowalski said.

“He’s a 5am riser and he’s an all-day worker.”

Mr West was also the breadwinner in a family of seven, with five children. Although not all were the biological children of Mr West, they were dependent on him, the court heard.

Mr Kowalski told the court that a couple – “very good friends” of Mr West – had volunteered to offer up a $100,000 surety if he was released on bail.

Considering all submissions, Ms Swadesir opted to grant Mr West’s application for bail, albeit “not without some reservations”.

She said she could not find it was a weak prosecution case, however she found exceptional circumstances were met.

As part of the bail, Mr West must surrender his passport and regularly report to Melton police station.

He will reappear in court at a later date.

Originally published as Aaron West fronts court charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis