Police say tip-off led them to drug cultivation house in Russell Street, Bathurst

Officers say a tip-off from the community led detectives to the residence, where they found an elaborate hydroponic cannabis operation inside.

In addition to the plants, police said they also located transformers, globes and carbon filters, the latter of which was installed inside the home's ceiling to try to disguise the smells associated with cannabis production.

Chifley Police District crime manager, Detective Acting Inspector Geoffrey Kendall, said police executed the search warrant at 8am on Wednesday, March 15 at the home in Russell Street.

"Upon entering the residence, they located a sophisticated hydroponic set-up and subsequently located 201 cannabis plants," he said.

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"At this stage, no arrests have been made and inquiries are continuing to identify who may have been involved."

With the community effectively the eyes and ears of police, Detective Acting Inspector Kendall said the drug-house find was a perfect example of how police and the community can work together to target criminal activity.

"Information from the public has led us to the residence, and we gratefully appreciate the assistance we do get from the community."

Detective Acting Inspector Kendall said of the 201 plants located inside the home, some were fully mature.

"There were a number of different plants at different levels of maturity; some were small seedlings to all the way through to ones ready to be harvested," he said.

He said the plants seized by police on Wednesday had a street value of $400,000 and the number of plants seized fell into a trafficable quantity.

As far as the scale of the set-up dismantled by police, he said it was a reasonably sized operation.

"We have seen these types of set-ups previously, have seen larger ones than this, but this is definitely a decent size."

He said investigations into the drug-house had been evolving over the past four weeks.

With the drug cultivation set-up now dismantled and cannabis being destroyed, he reminded members of the community to remain alert and report any other suspicious activity to police.

"If neighbours identify one of these houses in the community, then we would like them to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000," he said.

" As I said, assistance from the community helps us identify and dismantle these types of operations."

He said there are telltale signs which people can look for, including a property which is not lived in, strong smells and no lighting, or lights which are hard to see.

Detective Acting Inspector Kendall said police take any drug activity very seriously.

"It's a market which fuels underworld crime," he said.

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