Drug
house
footy
link
Article
from:
The
Advertiser
SAM
RICHES,
DOUG
ROBERTSON
January
22,
2008
05:30pm
POLICE
have
busted
a
drug
syndicate
allegedly
run
by
Finks
bikies,
revealing
links
to a
'growhouse'
with
an
SANFL
player,
a
former
AFL
player
and
manager.
Four
houses
– at
Enfield,
Blair
Athol,
Parafield
Gardens
and
Christies
Beach
–
have
been
raided
this
month
in
the
latest
sweep
by
detectives
from
the
Organised
Crime
Investigation
Branch,
who
have
been
working
with
the
Australian
Crime
Commission.
Title
documents
show
that
the
Enfield
home,
on
Jackson
Tce,
is
owned
by
former
Crows
midfielder
Hayden
Skipworth
–
who
lives
in
Ballarat
–
and
is
believed
to
be
under
the
management
of
Brenton
Hart,
step-father
to
former
Crows
footballer
Ben
Hart.
Police
said
today
an
Enfield
man,
60,
was
arrested
on
January
15
and
charged
with
complicity
in
activities
connected
to
cannabis
production
and
dishonestly
dealing
in
documents.
It
will
be
alleged
he
was
managing
properties
on
behalf
of
the
owners,
but
was
providing
the
houses
to
tenants
to
specifically
grow
hydroponic
cannabis
crops.
The
first
raid,
on
January
3,
at a
Blair
Athol
property
uncovered
eight
plants
and
about
18kgs
of
drying
cannabis.
Two
men,
from
Virginia,
25,
and
Kilkenny,
23,
were
arrested
and
charged
with
cannabis
offences.
The
same
day,
houses
at
Enfield
and
Parafield
Gardens
were
searched
and
hydroponic
equipment
were
seized
along
with
18
plants
from
the
Enfield
house
and
24
at
the
Parafield
Gardens
property.
Last
Wednesday,
a
Christies
Beach
man,
24,
was
arrested
and
charged
with
producing
cannabis
for
sale.
Yesterday,
two
cars,
a
Toyota
Supra
and
a
Holden
Commodore,
and
a
Harley
Davidson
motorcycle,
were
seized
from
a
fifth
property,
this
time
at
West
Croydon.
Superintendent
Deane
Paynter
said
police
would
allege
a
man,
24,
arrested
at
the
West
Croydon
house
was
a
"hang
around"
of
the
Finks
bikies
and
the
organiser
of
the
hydroponic
operation
which
saw
cannabis
grown
in
SA
and
freighted
to
Queensland.
"That
person
is
closely
associated
with
the
Finks".
The
Advertiser
understands
one
of
the
properties
was
rented
by
SANFL
South
Adelaide
player
Dale
Ellis.
South
Adelaide
Football
Club
officials
yesterday
said
Ellis
had
contacted
them
to
arrange
a
meeting
with
them.
Superintendent
Paynter
said
in
all
but
one
case,
the
owners
of
the
houses
were
unaware
their
properties
were
being
used
as a
grow-house.
"They
were
deceived,
they
were
really
innocent
parties,"
he
said.
"What
this
whole
investigation
has
demonstrated
is
the
propensity
of
organised
motorcycle
gangs
to
involve
innocent
parties
in
their
activities".
There
is
no
suggestion
that
Ben
Hart
or
Hayden
Skipworth
had
any
knowledge
of
the
activities
police
are
investigating.
