A Bass Hill man has been denied bail to face Lithgow Local Court on charges of cultivating prohibited plants.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The charges follow a search at a Portland property on August 29, during which almost 200 marijuana plants were seized.
Police executed a warrant at a Wolgan Street property early on Thursday morning. A large scale marijuana operation was in place, police allege, with the street value of the drugs seized estimated at $955,000.
Lithgow Chief Inspector Chris Sammut said the operation was the result of investigations by Lithgow detectives.
Chifley Police Detective Sergeant Paul Roe said it was part of an ongoing operation into stopping hydroponic production in the district and was the second bust in the last couple of months.
Police allege there was over $100,000 worth of equipment inside the house. A total of 191 plants were seized.
"The whole house was basically a hydroponic growing facility," Detective Sergeant Paul Roe said.
Bass Hill man Van Quang Nguyen, 30, was taken into police custody at 9.05am and charged with large commercial plant and hydroponic cultivation by enhanced means.
Mr Nguyen was taken to Lithgow Police Station where he was refused bail before facing Lithgow Local Court on Friday, August 30, where he was once again refused bail.
He will face Lithgow Local Court again via video link on September 12.
Love local news? Subscribe for as little as $2 a week. Find out how here.
