A 19-year-old Marlborough man yesterday admitted cultivating $64,000 worth of cannabis at a Blenheim house.
Caleb David Smith was jointly charged with the offending, which took place at his co-defendant’s house.
At the Blenheim District Court yesterday, police prosecutor sergeant Jason Munro said police went to a Blenheim address belonging to Smith’s co-accused on October 8.
The co-accused said there was no cannabis on his property that he was aware of.
On searching the house, police found 67 cannabis plants growing under a hydroponics system in a sleepout.
The sleepout had been lined out, with four hydroponic grow trays, grow lights, and water and nutrients being pumped through the trays.
Further equipment and 46.2 grams of cannabis plant material were also found there.
Seventy-six cannabis plants were found in hydroponic grow pottles outside the sleepout, along with 54 seedlings on its porch, and nine plants in the garden.
A large shed at the back of the property had a recently used hydroponic set-up similar to that found in the sleepout, which had the capability of growing more than 120 cannabis plants at a time.
Police found 37.3g of cannabis plant material in the shed, 14.6g of cannabis head material inside the house, and 242.1g in a bedroom.
The plants growing under the lights would each conservatively yield an average of 80g to 200g of cannabis head material, Munro said.
The lowest weight, of 80g per plant at harvest, would return a minimum of $1000 a plant, equating to a street return of $64,000 from only the plants growing under the lights in the sleepout, Munro said.
Commercial growers would usually turn over a harvest every 10 to 12 weeks.
Smith told police the hydroponics in the sleepout were his and that all cannabis plants found on the property were his.
He said he started in the shed at the back of the property then decided to take the operation inside, making the purpose-designed room next to his bed.
He was remanded until November 24 for sentencing.
Smith was convicted and discharged on a charge of wilful damage, which he had previously admitted.
He had been through restorative justice on that charge, and was also ordered to pay $296 in reparations for the damaged property.
- The Marlborough Express
Teen admits growing $64k cannabis crop
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