Detective Superintendent Ken McKay, from the NSW Crime Agencies, said police recently raided a hydroponic operation in a disused mine shaft at Lightning Ridge. Hydroponics is the preferred method of cultivation. Unlike outdoor producers, hydroponic growers can produce four crops a year. Supt McKay said some neighbourhoods acted as vast co-operatives, with each house growing two or three plants. They're then sold to a central distributor, and this is where organised crime becomes involved.
Police frequently gain information from neighbours or utilities suspicious of soaring power bills.
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