A Vietnamese man was hiding inside a roof when police raided a Darley house, discovering 681 cannabis plants growing under a sophisticated hydroponic system.
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Ballarat Divisional Response Unit police officers raided the Bakers Street house on December 5, 2016, after an investigation started two months earlier.
Luan Luong, 31, pleaded guilty at the County Court at Ballarat on Wednesday to one count of cultivating a narcotic plant in a commercial quantity.
Crown prosecutor David David O’Doherty said eight rooms and the laundry were set up to grow the cannabis, which weighed 186 kilograms.
He described the house as a large sophisticated hydroponic system set up to grow cannabis plants.
Electrical power boards were set up in the hallway to power the hydroponic system, while an unapproved electrical bypass was in place.
Mr O’Doherty said police used force to gain entry to the house and conducted a search. The accused was located hiding under insulation in the roof. He was taken to Bacchus Marsh Police Station where he provided a no comment interview.
The court was told Luong travelled to Australia in 2013 on a student visa but found himself with money problems.
While he was working as a waiter, he was approached and told he could make money without much effort by attending a house twice a week to take out the rubbish.
Luong made between $1500 and $2000 in the time he went to the house, the court was told.
He faces being deported from Australia following his release from custody, which Judge Howard Mason described as a lost opportunity to live and study here.
Luong works and studies in custody and is hoping to get back to his family as soon as possible, the court was told.
He has been in custody for 352 days, which the prosecution said was not a sufficient sentence. He will be sentenced on Monday in Melbourne.