FORMER Tenterfield man Michael Bennett Gardner, 54, and his 28 year old son Michael Bennett Gardner junior have been remanded in custody on charges relating to Queensland, and possibly Australia’s, biggest cannabis bust.

Police discovered up to $500 million worth of cannabis and cannabis products on the Bennett’s 4,000 acre property ‘Kinvarra’ at Warroo, near Inglewood, on Wednesday after months of investigation. It is alleged that they found 20,000 live cannabis plants, sixty 200 litre drums of cannabis and 14,000 plants drying in sheds and under tarpaulins. Some six and a half kilometres of piping had been set up to irrigate the crop, which was spread over seven different areas on the property. Near the weatherboard cottage on ‘Kinvarra’, about six kilometres from the crop, police seized generators, water pumps, four wheel drives and farming equipment. They also seized a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a magazine fitted and a round in the chamber when they went to the house to speak to the residents about the cannabis.

Police spokesman Detective Chief Superintendent Ross Barnett said, “With this unprecedented scale of product that we’ve uncovered, simply managing the evidence collection, distribution and destruction of that has been a signifant task and it’s ongoing.”

Investigations are also continuing into business arrangements surrounding the crop.

Superintendent Barnett said, “The other major focus of our investigation is establishing what the market was going to be, what the distribution network was going to be, who was going to get this, how was it going to be moved and who was going to get the profit from it.”

Police are still searching for four to six people they believe to have been involved in production on the property or looking after the crop. It has been reported that locals have said they had heard that ‘cropsitters’ had fled into the hills and could be hiding out in the caves that dot the rugged terrain of Kinvarra.

Michael Gardner senior and Michael Gardner junior appeared in Warwick Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday charged with producing and possessing a dangerous drug, unlawful possession of a handgun, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of crime and possessing property suspected of being used in connection with the commission of a drug offence. They were refused bail and are due to reappear in Warwick Court on August 27.