By Belinda Nolan
DETECTIVES from Brimbank’s Drug Squad have charged three people following raids on properties in Deer Park, North Melbourne and Maidstone last month.
Police executed a search warrant on a home in Neale Road on 25 May, uncovering a hydroponic drug lab and 140 cannabis plants.
A 22-year-old St Albans woman was arrested and charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.
Police will allege that the power supply at the home was bypassed to avoid detection and high electricity bills stemming from the illegal trade.
The raid led police to a second address in nearby Opie Rd where 88 cannabis plants were seized.
On 30 May police discovered 17 pounds of cannabis during a random check of a car, arresting a 23-year-old Keilor Downs man.
The arrest sparked raids on a business premises in North Melbourne and a home in Maidstone, where 14 grams of cannabis and 16 grams of methamphetamines were discovered. Detectives arrested another 23-year-old man.
Both men were charged with drug offences and were bailed to appear in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in August.