Two men and a women were charged following the searches at properties in the West End and Yarrunga areas of Wangaratta from 7am yesterday.

The men, 28 and 18, and woman, 40, have each been charged with trafficking, possessing and using cannabis and bailed to face Wangaratta Court on August 1.

Detective Sen-Sgt Barry McIntosh said a “large” amount of cannabis was seized with its exact weight still being determined and $600, alleged to be the proceeds of drug trafficking, was also impounded.

“Several months of investigation and surveillance have culminated in the arrest of the targets this morning with further inquiries to be made and the potential for further searches being conducted over coming weeks,” Sen-Sgt McIntosh said.

“It’s another dent in the local trade in drugs but it’s just the start of our process.

“We’ve got a long way to go and there is a lot more work to be done.

“A number of items have been seized and they will need to be interrogated to get intelligence, we believe we’ve got a number of things that will help with our investigations.”

Those arrested were alleged to have been dealing primarily in the Wangaratta area, but Sen-Sgt McIntosh said there were ties that linked those involved to other places, including Benalla and Albury.

Raids at four houses in the West End district happened simultaneously at 7am with 20 officers from as far away as Cobram and Wodonga involved along with a police drug dog from Melbourne.

The Yarrunga home was raided at 11am as a result of the earlier action.

Sen-Sgt McIntosh said yesterday the cannabis seized had been ready for sale and was not necessarily a result of this season’s favourable growing conditions for marijuana.

“We believe we got hydroponic cannabis and outdoor cannabis during the search this morning,” he said.

“I don’t know whether the plants we got this morning were a result of it being a good season, but it was a good season for growing.”