By Xavier Smerdon
POLICE swooped on six houses in Wyndham as part of the biggest drug raid ever in Victoria.
Three houses in Wyndham Vale, including two on Greens Rd, two houses in Tarneit and one in Hoppers Crossing were raided as part of Operation Entity, which saw 68 warrants executed around Victoria and over 40 people arrested.
Two of the houses in Wyndham Vale, only a few doors apart on Greens Rd, had a combined total of more than 500 cannabis plants seized as part of the raids.
The operation, which had to be postponed due to Hillary Clinton’s visit to Melbourne, resulted in police confiscating 8040 of the illegal plants.
Sarah Richardson, who lives two doors down from one of the properties, said she had no idea her neighbours were growing the drugs.
“It’s quite scary really,” she said.
“I don’t really talk to my neighbours for that reason; you don’t know what they might be doing.”
The mother of two young boys said she moved to the area only a short time ago because she thought it would be a safe neighbourhood.
“This is a new area, you expect it to be safe,” she said.
“It’s strange to think that people are building houses just to grow and sell drugs in them.”
It is believed that the majority of the drug houses have connections with Vietnamese drug rings.
The houses were raided at around 7am as other properties in Hillside, Taylors Hill, Burnside Heights, Kings Park, St Albans, Caroline Springs, Burnside, Albanvale, Cairnlea, Derrimut, Footscray West and Altona Meadows, were also searched by 630 police from a range of task forces.
The electricity companies were also called in to shut off the power as most of the houses had complex hydroponic systems using redirected electricity.
Deputy Commissioner Sir Ken Jones said the operation was a huge success. “As a result of this operation we believe we have been able to disrupt the activities of a significant drug and organised crime syndicate operating in our state,” he said.
“Operation Entity highlights the level of resources we are prepared to put into targeting this type of criminal activity and methods we can use to permanently dismantle these networks.” Of the 43 people arrested, 30 were charged and remanded in custody.
