Cannabis crop duo released

TWO Indian nationals were released from custody hours after pleading guilty to drug offences yesterday.

Former housemates Thilbepan Palarasa and Rajikaran Thankarasa each pleaded guilty to one charge of cultivating cannabis and theft of electricity at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Alex Good said the pair were arrested when police raided their Corio home on May 22.

The court heard police found 17 mature cannabis plants in one bedroom, 15 semi-mature plants in a second bedroom, 32 seedlings hidden in a cupboard and two large bags of green vegetable matter.

Sen-Constable Good said a total of 67 plants and 12.3kg of cannabis leaves were seized .

The court heard Palarasa told police he had been approached by an unknown person who told him he would be paid $300 per week to look after the cannabis.

Sen-Constable Good said Palarasa told police he moved out of the property while the crop was set up and moved back in to care for the plants.

Thankarasa told police he had been living at the property for three months and was aware of the plants but had not been involved in caring for them.

The duo’s lawyer said both men had arrived in Australia as “boat refugees” and came from a “very poor socio-economic group”, making the drug money “very tempting”.

Magistrate Ross Betts said the offending was serious but acknowledged the duo had been in custody since their arrest. He ordered they be convicted and jailed for 134 days — all of which had been served.