Marijuana plants and dry marijuana leaves seized by police at three factories
The detective raided three factories in Atamon (Artarmon), near (Chatswood), a Chinese district on the north coast of Sydney yesterday, and found a large number of waterplanted marijuana installations and 1200 marijuana plants worth about 3.7 million yuan on the streets.
Police then closed the arrest to five suspects, including two Chinese, who appeared in (Hornsby) and Manley (Manly) District Court today (Wednesday).
After investigating local marijuana supply and planting activities, Sydney North and Northern Beach District Police stations searched three factories on Hotham Pde Road, McLachlan Av Road and George Pl Road at 07:30 on Tuesday morning. 1206 marijuana plants were seized, worth about 3.7 million yuan on the street, 58 kilograms of dry marijuana leaves were also seized, and the street value was about 382000 yuan.
The police also searched the house of the persons involved in the follow-up operation and seized a total of 46,000 yuan of suspected stolen money.
Three Hispanic men, aged 45,55 and 62, were taken to the DMV for questioning on several counts of marijuana cultivation. Two other ethnic Chinese men, aged 25 and 60, were taken to Manley Police to assist in the investigation and were subsequently prosecuted.
Ma Guoqing, a 60-year-old Chinese man in Atamon district, and Zhang Yongjun, a 25-year-old Chinese youth from (Lane Cove), Langao district, helped plant 240 marijuana and 489 marijuana, respectively. Ma Guoqing applied for bail, and his legal aid lawer said horses suffer from severe liver disease and need daily medication and will have a liver operation soon. But judge Richarson (Mark Richardson) refused to give him bail. Zhang Yongjun did not apply for bail. They were ordered to appear in Connecticut District Court on March 4 next year.
