Victoria Police helicopters using heat-seeking technology to find cannabis grow-houses
New technology used with great success overseas is being used to crack down on Victoria’s lucrative cannabis grow-house industry.
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Police helicopters are using heat-seeking technology to pinpoint cannabis grow-houses in suburban Melbourne.
The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal choppers from the Victoria Police air wing are using thermal imaging equipment to search for the crops when patrolling the skies.
The aircraft’s forward-looking infra-red (FLIR) gear is capable of detecting unusual levels of heat from properties where drugs are being cultivated indoors.
Such plant growing generates high heat because of the amount of lighting needed to replicate the ideal climate.
Some properties use dozens of 600-watt lamps, requiring exhaust outlets for the hot air.
Sources said those houses sometimes show up under infra-red in the same way body heat makes people appear illuminated in FLIR footage.
FLIR equipment on helicopters has been used for years in the US and Britain to make substantial busts.
Melbourne traffickers have been known to use handheld heat guns to look for crops being grown in houses and factories so they can burgle them.
Victoria’s cannabis grow-house industry is considered to be Australia’s most lucrative.
Police have previously stated it is a major organised crime pursuit, helping fund other activities such as international drug trafficking.
Syndicates use rental properties to harvest multiple crops a year and employ or coerce crop-sitters — frequently foreign nationals on student visas — to maintain the plants and deter intruders.
The sitters have in the past been sentenced to long prison terms while their masters avoided the law.
There have been scores of fires in Melbourne in the past decade linked to shoddy wiring used by the syndicates to steal power for the properties.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the force could not talk about the use of the helicopters for operational reasons.
Last year Victoria Police dramatically expanded its air fleet with the introduction of three new helicopters.
The Leonardo AW139 helicopters can reach speeds up to 250km/h and can fly for about 1000 kilometres without needing to refuel.
They can also seat eight people, whereas the old police choppers could only seat two in the back.
Last month police landed a helicopter on the helipad of its new Spencer St headquarters, which marked the first time the force has had access to a fit-for-purpose helipad in its history.
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