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IT could have been the 195 plants of various maturity scattered throughout what was once a modest family home in suburban Thornton.
It may have been the remarkable electrical work to power the estimated $1million operation, including more than 70 transformers, at about $150 each, and 100 lampshades, at about $100 each.
The makeshift plastering to keep the crop hidden from the outside world was also extraordinary.
But the one thing that impressed detectives more than anything else about the major drug house was the smell – or, more to the point, the lack of it.
Expensive ducting leading to two-metre tall charcoal filters kept the usual pungent odour of cannabis plants at bay so much that officers working inside the house could not smell anything until the power was cut – and then it became unbearable.
“This isn’t a backyard operation, this is definitely someone who knew what they were doing,’’ Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector Mitch Dubojski said.
It was the second suburban Hunter house to be raided as a sophisticated hydroponic drug house in three days, after Newcastle City police arrested three men in connection with about 130 plants in the a four-bedroom, two-storey Wallsend property on Monday.
Although there are no direct links yet to be established. there are believed to be close similarities with electricity diversion techniques and growing set-ups which have excited investigators.
Both were highly-organised, both appeared to be the work of people outside the area after the house was bought, and both would have successfully harvested crops before the raids.
It is estimated a hydroponically-grown cannabis plant can be harvested in about 15 weeks.
Fingerprints experts would return to the Acer Terrace property on Thursday to continue trying to lift prints from throughout the house.
It is estimated a hydroponically-grown cannabis plant can be harvested in about 15 weeks.
Detective Inspector Dubojski said police believed the house was used for the sole purpose of growing cannabis plants and that the owners didn’t appear to permanently live there.
He said it appeared that the electricity and water supply to the house had been taken off the grid, to allow excess use.
“In my experience, [the set-up] is very sophisticated. Our initial suspicion is that it’s coming from outside the Hunter area,” Inspector Dubojski said.
With the cost of the setting up and the street value of the seized cannabis, it was estimated the Thornton operation exceeded $1million.
EARLIER:
HUNTER police have uncovered the second massive suburban drug house this week, with at least 195 cannabis plants discovered inside a Thornton premises.
Central Hunter police were at the scene of the Acer Terrace premises on Wednesday morning, after the initial raid on Tuesday afternoon.
At least 195 plants of various stages of growth have been seized from throughout the house.
Police described the set-up as “highly sophisticated”.
The plants seized are believed to have a street value of at least $100,000.
Although there are no direct links with a similar raid at Wallsend on Monday, there are believed to be close similarities with electricity diversion techniques and growing set-ups.
Police say the Thornton house was a highly-organised system.
“This isn’t a backyard operation, this is definitely someone who knew what they were doing,’’ Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector Mitch Dubojski said.
No one has been arrested at this stage.
Inspector Dubojski said police believed the house may have been used for the sole purpose of growing cannabis plants and that the owners didn’t appear to permanently live there.
He said it appeared that the electricity and water supply to the house had been taken off the grid, to allow excess use.
“In my experience, [the set-up] is very sophisticated. Our initial suspicion is that it’s coming from outside the Hunter area,” Inspector Dubojski said.
He said police were investigating whether there was a link between the Thornton operation and the Wallsend set-up.
Three men were charged over the huge Wallsend drug house on Monday, where police seized at least 120 plants with an estimated street value of $260,000.
Police combing through contents of the Thornton house on Wednesday placed at least two boxes of large light globes, shades and electrical light fittings on the front lawn.
An Acer Terrace resident, who asked not to be identified, said there had not been any specifically suspicious behaviour in the street.
But she said there was something about the house that "didn't seem like a regular home situation".
The resident said people living in the street had been aware police had been interested in activity at the house for at least the past few months.
Another resident said police arrived at the house about 2pm on Tuesday and had remained there since.
He said the residents had moved into the house about six months ago.
