A Burnside Heights man has been jailed for more than eight years for running a major cannabis operation across 21 “crop houses” throughout the western suburbs.
The Supreme Court heard the operation involved properties in Delahey, Keilor, Deer Park, Cairnlea, Derrimut, Melton, Caroline Springs and St Albans.
Van Hung Nguyen pleaded guilty to one charge of cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis and one count of dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime. The court heard Nguyen, a Vietnamese citizen who arrived in Australia in 2002, held a “managerial role” in the operation.
Police seized 201 plants and sophisticated hydroponic equipment from a house in Black Dog Drive, Melton, on September 21, 2011.
A search at another Melton property on December 22 that year uncovered 285 cannabis plants.
Police found Nguyen’s fingerprints on a soft drink can in the kitchen.
After placing a tracking device in Nguyen’s car, police seized another 4590 cannabis plants weighing 1279.7kg and valued at about $2.3million from 21 different properties between December 29, 2011 and April 17, 2012.
Police also seized several items from Melton West, Caroline Springs, Burnside Heights, St Albans and Brookfield houses that were purchased for “crop sitters” employed to look after the plants.
Police also seized goods and cash valued at more than $87,000 from Nguyen’s Burnside Heights property, including $39,900 in a kitchen drawer.
In sentencing on September 16, Justice Mark Weinberg dismissed Nguyen’s claim that he had an IQ of 40 and sentenced him to eight years and nine months’ jail.
“[The psychologist’s] conclusion that you have an IQ of around 40 is utterly implausible,’’ he said. ‘‘If you had an IQ of that order, you would simply not be able to function in any recognised sense.”
Nguyen was ordered to serve six years without parole.
