By Xinhua,
Canberra : Tens of millions of dollars worth of cannabis has been seized by police on a Queensland property in one of the state’s biggest hauls of the drug, police said on Wednesday.
Chief Superintendent Ross Barnett of Queensland said that about 4,000 six-to eight-month-old plants were found on the 1,618-hectare property named Kinvarra on Hollybank Road at Waroo in the state’s south-east, during a raid on Tuesday after a tip-off.
Police also found 60 200-litre drums of cannabis, more than 14,000 plants drying in two sheds and 400 kg of cannabis outside the sheds, as well as a fully loaded easily accessible 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.
Barnett said a price had not yet been placed on the haul, but one mature plant was worth 2,500 Australian dollars (2,400 U.S. dollars) and harvested product was worth about 4,000 Australian dollars “a pound”. Estimations place the value above Australian 40million dollars.
Barnett also said the haul would make a significant dent in the drug’s availability although police had not yet identified where the cannabis was being marketed.
A 54-year-old man and his 28-year-old son have been charged with producing and possessing a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of a handgun, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of a crime and possessing property suspected to have been used in connection with the commission of a drug offence.
(1 Australian dollar equals to 0.96 U.S. dollar)