Police bust cannabis operation as trucks flee Victorian bushfires in the Grampians on Christmas Eve

Police have busted a significant cannabis operation in Victoria, accusing two men of trying to smuggle the crop clear of the fire zone on Christmas Eve.

Officers responded to reports of trucks in the evacuation zone, near Moyston in the Grampians, around 4pm on December 24.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Police bust major drug operation in bushfire-ravaged Victoria.

They discovered one of the vehicles abandoned and when they opened the rear doors they found a full load of mature cannabis plants.

A second truck was located parked at an intersection nearby with two men in the cab.

Police said there, they also found the keys to the first truck as well as a quantity of growing mix.

A third truck was tracked down at another nearby location, which also allegedly had a number of cannabis plants inside it.

The three trucks were seized and transported to a safe location until the fire danger passed, and the two men were arrested.

On Christmas Day, police executed a search warrant at a Moyston address, where they found a large quantity of cannabis plants.

A 36-year-old Deer Park man and a 37-year-old Sunshine West man have been charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of narcotic plant, cultivating a narcotic plant and dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime.

They are in custody and will face the Ballarat Magistrates’ court on Thursday.