Major Qld drug syndicate smashed

A suspected drugs gang is being questioned by police who have shut down the most sophisticated cannabis production operation ever seen in Queensland.

Investigators believe the drugs set-up, worth more than $60 million a year, is part of a lucrative syndicate that had spread to the state from Victoria and South Australia.

The operation was run out of a warehouse at Acacia Ridge, south of Brisbane, with a further 20 hydroponic grow houses discovered during raids across the state's southeast.

Police have charged 37 people following their six-month investigation and continue to explore the reach of the operation.

The majority of the Vietnamese gang, who were arrested along with a small number of Malaysians and two Australians, are also being investigated by Australian Border Force for illegally overstaying.

It includes a number on student visas used to babysit the plants.

The suspected head of the operation, an Australian man from Victoria, was arrested on Hamilton Island during a family holiday on Wednesday.