Michael Wayne Jones, 55, was one of four men charged over a plantation of 203 mature cannabis plants found in April last year near Turpentine Road at Parma.

In January 2018 the Proactive Deployment Unit from South Coast Police District started investigations into large-scale cannabis cultivation in the Jerrawangala and adjoining state forests south-west of Nowra.

On April 3, 2018, local police - accompanied by officers from the State Crime Command Drug & Firearm Squad and other specialist units - conducted several searches of bushland and found the crop which had an estimated potential street value of $400,000.

Officers executed search warrants at homes at Sanctuary Point and South Nowra the next day, seizing a number of items, including cannabis plants, leaf and cuttings along with GPS and communications equipment for further forensic examination.

A number of pepper sprays and a phone Taser were allegedly also found.

Jones pleaded guilty to cultivating a prohibited plant in Wollongong District Court on September 6, with Judge Sharon Harris placing him on a 14-month intensive corrections order, meaning he can serve his sentence within the community rather than in jail.

Read more: Crime/Court