A man and woman charged with drug trafficking told police they had never previously been to the "sophisticated drug lab" outside which they were arrested.
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"Earlier today I met a man who told me to come and do gardening at the house for cash," the 51-year-old man, Kim Long Do, told police through a Vietnamese interpreter.
He and the 53-year-old woman, Duong Thi Tuyet, were both denied bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, when they were each charged with cultivating a traffickable quantity of cannabis.
The pair were arrested on Monday when police raided a Garran home, where approximately 150 cannabis plants were found.
The man and woman were stopped in the driveway from leaving in a car.
"I have never been to the house before," Do told police.
The pair could not provide police with any information about the man they claimed hired them to do gardening at the house, including his name or how they had made contact with him.
Do also claimed a phone in his possession belonged to that unnamed man but he could not say why it had been given to him.
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Officers unlocked the phone and found a security camera application "that was displaying the moment police had arrived at the house".
When police searched the car the pair were stopped in, they found a remote control for the home's electric garage door.
When officers eventually searched the Garram house, they found its bedrooms, living room and dining room all filled with cannabis plants, heat lamps, irrigation pipes, fans and industrial filters.
"There appeared to be no tools for gardening either at the premises or in the car," Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said.
Ms Walker said the excuse given to police "does not seem plausible".
Before the raid, police had seen Do pushing two bins from the home to the curb of the street, checking the letter box and walking towards the house and out of sight.
However, court documents do not state either of the alleged offenders were seen entering the home.
Denying Tuyet's bail application, Ms Walker said the Vietnamese international's ties to the territory were "tenuous" and the serious charges may be motivation to flee the ACT.
While the Chief Magistrate said bail conditions could not mitigate the risks of Tuyet interfering with evidence, "that may well change in the near future".
The two alleged offenders were remanded in custody and are set to face court again later this month.
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
