A Missing Hiker Is Bringing Heat on Australian Weed Growers

This post originally appeared on VICE Australia.

Back on Easter Sunday in 2008, a 57-year-old Melbourne, Australia man named Warren Meyer went for a six mile hike in the Yarra Ranges. He left his car in the Dom Dom Saddle parking lot and set out for a planned walk in good weather. He hasn't been seen since. After exhaustive searches by police and family turned up nothing, a call to police during Missing Persons Week last year may have provided their first clue. The caller claimed that Warren stumbled upon a marijuana crop and was murdered—a claim which is now under investigation.

Like in the States, Australian pot growers view bush plantations as a cheaper, legally safer alternative to growing indoors. Leading criminologist and assistant professor at Bond University Stephen Goldsworthy told VICE that such plantations "aren't uncommon," and conceded that growers often defend their plants. "They usually involve someone crop sitting," he said. "These people are often armed and they will actually booby-trap the crops." The booby traps commonly consist of pits with spikes at the bottom or barbed wire hidden amongst foliage.

This wouldn't be the first case of a bush crop discovery gone wrong. In 2013 a 40-year-old hiker in Queensland was shot in the stomach after coming across a bush crop. The man was hit with a small calibre round after spotting the illegal operation as he was attempting to hike out of the Deepwater National park.

Nationally, the central-eastern coast is Australia's most popular area for bush plantations. Subsequently the NSW Police Force runs a specialized Cannabis Eradication Team to target bush growers throughout the north of the state. This team has been in operation since the 1980s and, as they told VICE via an emailed statement, "seize thousands of plants valued in the millions of dollars every year" during the growing season between November and April. As the release explained, they've seen a slight increase this year over last with "the destruction of 9,927 plants with an estimated potential street value of almost $20 million."

The NSW Police Force claims there is no archetype for marijuana growers. "Police have arrested individuals growing crops for sale in the community, through to highly-sophisticated criminal syndicates operating high-level cannabis supply chains," they said. However, they find "the majority of crop sites destroyed by police are unattended at the time of detection."

While searching for Warren Meyer in Victoria, police discovered 32 individual marijuana plants. Although this is a relatively small amount, Warren's wife, Zee Meyer, believes this could be a sign of what happened to her husband. As she told the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), "That's indicative that there was illegal activity. No matter how small the plantation was, it is indicative of illegal activities happening in this area."

Dr. Goldsworthy believes people are rarely attacked after stumbling across pot plantations, but concedes that the chances of harm are higher around illegal activities. "The elements are there for something to occur," he said. "There are drugs, criminals, and weapons."

VICE contacted the Victorian Police for info on bushland plantations in the Yarra Ranges but they were unable to comment.

If you have any information, the campaign to find Warren can be found at warrenmeyer.com.au

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