Talk about an interesting day at the office. Australian police were called out on a drug raid, but they found so much more. In addition to copious amounts of cannabis, the police also found a home full of various animals. The chaotic scene led to an arrest. The 39-year-old male was arrested for alleged exotic animal farming and cannabis farming.
Man Arrested For Exotic Animal Farming During A Drug Raid
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NSW Police shared a post on Instagram about the arrest. The caption of the post shared that the "Raptor Squad officers have charged a man for alleged commercial cannabis cultivation, drug supply, and farming protected or illegal reptiles in the state's north (a real case of high stakes and higher scales)." PEOPLE shared that there were in fact drugs in the home. In fact, it was quite the sophisticated system. Police found an entire "hydroponic cannabis system" within the home.
Additionally, they found a wide variety of animals. The Instagram post shared that inside the home, police found "a 1.2 metre saltwater crocodile, 38 snakes, including a Cobra, 19 lizards, 3 hedgehogs, 28 dogs, and 9 cats." No wonder this man was arrested for alleged exotic animal farming. Who else would have all those animals in their home, and right next to their hydroponic cannabis?
A Happy Ending - At Least For The Animals
When speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Detective Brad Adby said that the entire "scene was chaotic." Additionally, he spoke out about the bizarreness of the whole scenario. "It's not every day we enter a premise,s and there's a saltwater crocodile in the bedroom," he joked. He continued, "There was a hydroponic cannabis system set up there, with 28 dogs around that." Definitely not a typical day at the office.
Luckily, all of the animals were safely removed and placed into appropriate care. People online shared their support of the officers and their hard work on this case. Here are some of the comments left under the post.
- "Thank you for rescuing the critters and sorting out the mess. ??????."
- "Great work and what a clean up."
- "two years in jail for each animal and they sentences have to be served consecutive, so 196 years and then add the sentence the drug charges and then garnishee his super fund to cover his time in jail."
