Police have found cannabis crops in more than 30 houses in Whittlesea in the past nine months.
Police have raided a number of properties and found sophisticated hydroponic set-ups.
Detective Senior Constable Daniel Chrystie said some of the tell-tale signs that identified illegal crop houses included unfamiliar people coming and going and drawn curtains in daylight hours.
But he hesitated to expand on what other clues alerted police to illegal activity.
“They’re catching on to our methods,” he said. “If the public has any inkling all is not okay, call Crime Stoppers, even if it’s something small.”
In the most recent case, $300,000 worth of cannabis plants were uncovered in a raid on a Doreen house last Tuesday.
Despite a well-kept front garden and a freshly mown lawn, the house in Bernard Street was a hydroponic hothouse with cannabis growing in every available space.
Mill Park sergeant Danny Taylor said 340 plants were found in the house’s seven rooms. There was no furniture or food inside.
“It was a sophisticated set-up,” Sergeant Taylor said.
In December last year, Epping police seized 94 cannabis plants from an illegal crop house in Thomastown.
