An Australian Family Rents an Airbnb That Turns Out to Be a Drug Den

An Australian family’s stay at a home rented via Airbnb took a grim turn on Dec. 27 when armed police officers raided the house on account of a marijuana-growing operation in one of the bedrooms.

Sydney residents Dieter Winkler, his partner and their five children were fixing a barbecue at the vacation home on Australia’s Gold Coast when 10 officers broke down the front door, the Daily Telegraph reported. The officers detained and questioned the family in the house’s living room for five hours after the hydroponic setup was discovered in a locked bedroom.

The Winklers, who spent around $1,260 on their planned 11-night stay at the house, had been told by the homeowners that the bedroom where the marijuana lab was located had been closed off because of an electrical fault.

Police said on Dec. 29 that they charged a 40-year-old woman with “unlawfully producing a dangerous drug” and confirmed that the Winkler family was unaware of the operation.

Airbnb provided the Winklers with a refund of around $3,100 to compensate for their original expenses and the cost of finding new accommodations.

[The Daily Telegraph]