A Malaysian national who cultivated cannabis at a north Canberra house, as part of an extensive grow house network unearthed last year, could be deported after she was released from jail on a good behaviour order.
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Kam Mei Ng, 37, was among six people arrested when police busted the drug syndicate in June last year, initially raiding six houses and seizing more than 900 plants worth millions of dollars from rental properties across the territory.
Immigration officials waited to take Ng away from the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis with the intention it would be sold.
The court heard police found 116 cannabis plants and a sophisticated hydroponic setup across six rooms when they searched the Nicholls property where Ng had lived with a co-offender for about a month.
They discovered an irrigation pump system in each room and noticed the mains power supply had been modified and was being diverted through the roof space.
Police also seized pots, potting mix, shears, plastic bags and dried cannabis.
A six-week program on growing and tending to cannabis plants, including information on temperatures and growth rates, was found in the kitchen.
Text messages between Ng and her co-offender, in which Ng asked questions about temperatures for the cannabis plants, were found on her mobile phone.
Ng was charged and committed for trial after pleading not guilty to cultivating cannabis in the ACT Magistrates Court last year.
She later indicated, when the case was in its early stages before the higher court, that she would likely plead guilty.
Crown prosecutors told the court Ng would likely be taken away by Immigration and Border Protection officers and sent to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, before being deported to Malaysia, if she was released from jail.
They said there was a "small chance" Ng, who had her tourist visa cancelled when she was arrested, could remain in Australia if she successfully applied for an extension.
In sentencing Ng, Chief Justice Helen Murrell said her offences were at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of objective seriousness and noted her claim that she did not know growing the plants was wrong.
She said Ng had no prior criminal record and had worked as a cleaner at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where she also took part in classes including English language lessons.
Ng was convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, to be released from police custody after her court appearance upon entering a six-month good behaviour order.
She was immediately taken into custody by immigration officials.
The court heard her co-offender, Pei Yeon Wong, 30,was last year sentenced to 11 months behind bars for her near identical role in the operation. She has since left the country.
ACT Policing detectives have so far seized 1226 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of more than $7 million under Operation Armscote.
