AN elaborate hydroponic set-up uncovered at a Hoppers Crossing house was being used to steal electricity to grow cannabis crops, a court has heard.
Marco Licalsi, 40, was last Wednesday fined $1500 and ordered to pay $7738 to power provider Tru Energy after police found 17 cannabis plants and unravelled a complex bypass system during a raid on May 31.
Werribee Magistrates Court heard the raid followed a lengthy police surveillance operation. Police found the meter bypass system in the roof cavity, which was illegally using 300 kilowatts of power a day while the meter displayed a lower read.
Two bedrooms were being used as cannabis plantations and fertiliser was found in the laundry.
As Licalsi was not home on the day of the raid, police visited the house again on June 7 and arrested him.
He made full admissions to installing the meter bypass and growing the cannabis crops, which he said he had learned how to do on the internet.
He said the drugs were for personal use, not for trafficking, which the prosecution accepted.
Licalsi’s defence counsel said he had made a “very stupid decision” to grow marijuana and self-medicate by using the drugs as pain relief after sustaining injuries in a dirt bike accident 20 years ago and a neck injury at the gym eight years ago.
He stole the electricity because he could not afford it. The court heard he had since sought proper treatment.
Licalsi was ordered to forfeit the hydroponic equipment and to provide police with a DNA sample.
