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Biggest cannabis nursery busted

1,500 plants seized along with equipment able to substantially speed up growth of marijuana

Police yesterday seized 1,500 cannabis plants and equipment used to speed up their growth from what they said was the city's biggest marijuana nursery.

The 3,000-sq-ft greenhouse in two units at a Kwai Chung industrial building could produce 30kg of cannabis buds every eight weeks - two to three times faster than normal.

With the escalated growth rate, the drug syndicate could pocket up to HK$3 million with each harvest, Narcotics Bureau police said.

Officers seized 1,523 cannabis plants and a bag of cannabis buds from the units on the 17th floor of Mai On Industrial Building in Kung Yip Street. A surveillance camera had been installed at the front door to monitor the lift lobby outside the units, police said.

One man climbed out a window to escape as officers were breaking through a security gate and metal door at 12.45pm, Chief Inspector Wong Yiu-wing said.

The 34-year-old, believed to be the syndicate's ringleader, edged his way round to another window to reach the rear staircase, but was caught by police on the ground floor after a brief struggle. Officers arrested another man, 26, in one of the units, which were linked by a corridor.

Inside the units police discovered four sealed cubicles filled with marijuana plants and fitted with about 70 solar lights and 10 air conditioners. Each cubicle also contained equipment that emitted carbon dioxide, a vital component in plant growth.

'It's the first time that machines that can release carbon dioxide have been found to be used to grow marijuana in Hong Kong,' Chief Inspector Wong said.

'With the help of these machines and solar lights, the plants' growing period could be shortened by two or three times to eight weeks.

'The initial investigation revealed the factory only produced cannabis buds. Leaves that could be used to make herbal cannabis were thrown away,' he said.

Police said it was the biggest cannabis-growing nursery discovered in the city and officers believe it had been operating for about three months. Packaging equipment was also seized.

Based on intelligence, Narcotics Bureau officers began to investigate the syndicate about three months ago.

An investigator said one fully grown plant could produce 10 to 20 grams of cannabis buds every eight weeks. The average street price for cannabis buds is HK$107 a gram and for herbal cannabis HK$69 a gram.

Officers are still investigating where the syndicate obtained the cannabis seeds and machines.

Last night both suspects were being held for questioning and neither had been charged.

Chief Inspector Wong stressed there was no evidence to suggest an increasing trend in factory-style cultivation of cannabis in Hong Kong.

The first large-scale cannabis nursery was discovered in a factory in San Po Kong in July last year. Officers arrested two men and seized more than 1,300 marijuana plants.

Police and customs officers seized 437.29kg of herbal cannabis in the first eight months of this year, almost three times the 149.6kg seized during the whole of last year. Officers seized a total of 404.83kg in 2005.

In the first eight months of this year, 61.95kg of cannabis buds have been seized - nearly five times the 12.8kg seized in the whole of last year.

Rapid growth

The nursery could grow 30kg of cannabis buds every two months

Each gram of cannabis buds could be sold on the street for HK $107

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