A highly organised criminal syndicate is believed to be operating in Blair Athol, after another huge cannabis bust in the suburb since last night made it four this week, with a drug haul valued at more than $7 million.
About 10am today, police from Operation Moonlight raided a house in The Kraal Drive in the south-western Sydney suburb, finding cannabis and another extremely sophisticated hydroponic set-up.
This followed another raid on the same street at 6.30pm yesterday, in which police discovered cannabis valued at $1.2 million.
Police seized 281 plants, a large quantity of cut cannabis and hydroponic equipmen during last night's raid, a spokeswoman said. Most rooms in the house were being used to grow the drugs, police said.
These most recent two raids follow the discovery of 300 mature plants worth about $1.5 million in a house on Blair Athol Drive early yesterday, and more than 700 plants with a street value of about $4 million on The Kraal Drive on Monday.
A 56-year-old man, alleged to have been living in the house on Blair Athol Drive, was charged with commercial cultivation of cannabis and possessing a prohibited drug after yesterday morning's raid.
He is expected to face another charge of cultivating cannabis after last night's raid, and will face Campbelltown Local Court.
Police believe there are links between all four houses, which have been similarly modified for the specific purpose of cultivating cannabis.
They have not ruled out further "hydroponic cannabis houses" being located in the suburb, and believe they are close to "uncovering a highly organised criminal syndicate operating in Blair Athol'', a statement said.
A resident of Blair Athol told smh.com.au she had seen a number of police and TV crews at the single-storey brick house on The Kraal Drive last night.
She believed the house had recently been rebuilt after a fire a few years ago, and was sold by its Indian or Bangladeshi owners in the past six months.
The other two properties raided in Blair Athol this week had also been sold in the last few months, she said.
Police have called a media conference for midday today regarding the most recent two raids.
Blair Athol is a relatively new suburb, having been developed only in the late 1990s. Many of its homes - mostly double-storey brick houses - were built in the last few years.
The suburb falls in Werriwa, the electorate of former Opposition leader Mark Latham, and its residents typify the "aspirational class'' often described by the former Labor leader.
Most of the large houses typically have more than one car parked in the driveway and residents can often be seen tending to their gardens.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about half the suburb's residents are aged between 25 and 54, with 65 per cent being couples with children.
The median weekly household income was $1723, above the national average of $1027.
Nearly 90 per cent of the residents were Australian citizens, but 11 per cent were born in the Philippines, 3.7 per cent in Fiji, and 3.6 per cent in India.
Raids so far
May 12: The Kraal Drive, Blair Athol, $4.2 million worth of cannabis.
May 14: Blair Athol Drive, Blair Athol, $1.5 million worth of cannabis.
May 14: The Kraal Drive, Blair Athol, $1.2 million worth of cannabis.
May 15: The Kraal Drive, Blair Athol, cannabis still being processed.