General News
3 January, 2025
'Sophisticated hydroponic system' allegedly found after bushfire cannabis haul
Deer Park man accused of moving plants from Grampians fire path.
A Deer Park man has been refused bail after being allegedly caught moving cannabis plants out of the path of the Grampians bushfire near Moyston on Christmas Eve.
Vietnamese national Tien Trang, 36, from Deer Park, faced Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday, January 2, on charges including cultivating a commercial quantity of a narcotic plant.
Police told the court that about 3.40pm on December 24 a witness saw trucks leaving an address at White Patch Road in Moyston and, concerned about potential looting of evacuated properties, called police.
A short time later, police allegedly found three rented trucks at different locations nearby.
Police told the court one truck was allegedly found to contain 142 mature cannabis plants, and a second truck allegedly contained 61 plants.
The third truck, in which Trang and his co-accused were found, allegedly contained 87 bags of a growing medium commonly used to cultivate cannabis along with a wallet, a set of keys with tags belonging to one of the other trucks, a key that unlocked the house at the address on White Patch Road where the trucks were seen leaving, and other items.
Police told court that the following day, Christmas Day, a search warrant was executed at the property on White Patch Road where they allegedly found a "sophisticated hydroponic system on the large rural property" and about 200 mature cannabis plants in pots.
The preliminary weight of the plants found at the Moyston property was about 250kg.
Trang's lawyer said his client acknowledged he hired a van and drove it to Moyston, saying he visited the property at the request of another person to move bags of growing medium.
Police opposed bail on the basis of the quantity of cannibis detected, the potential for more serious charges to be laid, and Trang's "flight risk" of not complying with bail conditions and going back to Vietnam.
Magistrate Costas Kilias refused bail.
Trang will return to court on April 1.
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