A Chinese man who pleaded guilty to growing cannabis at his northside home told police he didn't know what type of plants they were but he'd been advised the "flowers" could be sold.
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Chunsheng Li, 48, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis for sale in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday.
Four Chinese nationals were arrested over two grow houses which held $2.5 million worth of drugs following a series of police raids earlier this year.
Police said they seized 800 cannabis plants and 17 kilograms of packaged cannabis from several houses as part of an investigation into cannabis supply in the Canberra region.
More than 400 cannabis plants were seized when police uncovered a sophisticated hydroponic setup which took up the entire ground floor of the two-storey Evatt house in May, facts tendered at court showed.
The setup included several makeshift rooms which contained heat lights on timers, exhaust fans and black hosing.
The house's power supply had been tampered with to ensure power going to the hydroponic setup was not recorded, police said.
They arrested Li and Manxin Jin, 51, who were inside the De Lissa Street house at the time.
Li admitted to officers he had grown the plants, but said he did not know they were cannabis.
A market seller who sold him the seeds had told him he could grow the plants and sell the "flowers" for money, Li said.
Police also found a suitcase which contained $11,740 in the house, and two clear plastic bags filled with dried cannabis.
Li said he did not have a visa and had been living in Australia for nine years after he arrived with a South Korean passport.
Three Chinese passports were found inside the house, two of which were in Li's name and one in Jin's name.
The pair told police they were not employed.
Li entered his guilty plea through a Mandarin interpreter before Magistrate Robert Cook on Wednesday.
He was remanded in custody and the matter was committed to the ACT Supreme Court for sentencing on July 31.
Jin did not speak when it was her turn to plead and a plea of not guilty was entered.
She will remain in custody until she faces court again on August 28.
Two other Chinese immigrants, who were also in Australia illegally, were charged over a sophisticated grow house in Flynn.
Raids on that house uncovered more than 400 cannabis plants.
Aifeng Zhang, 51, and Zhezhu Quan, 44, each pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivating cannabis earlier this month.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.
The pair was committed to higher court for sentencing and will face court on the same day as Li.
