Sydney family of seven, the Winklers, rented a Gold Coast home through AirBnb for the Christmas break.
However, they were not even 24 hours into their stay when armed Burleigh Criminal Investigation Branch officers, wearing bulletproof vests, kicked the door down.
The family were ordered to sit in the lounge room where they were kept for five hours while police questioned them over a sophisticated drug setup found in one of the bedrooms, news.com.au reports.
The Winklers were told by the owner that one of the bedrooms was “off-limits”, only for it to be kicked down by police to find an extensive hydroponic cannabis setup.
The house cost the family $1800 to stay for 11 nights however, Mr Winkler now describes the experience as “horrifying.”
“The cops piled in on a mission,” he said.
“They didn’t know who we were so it was quite mortifying.”
“They didn’t know we were innocent, so it wasn’t a friendly reception.
“We’d just been getting ready for a barbecue.”
“My 72-year-old mother was at the home at the time and my little five-year-old niece rocked up mid-raid.”
“It was the first time the whole family got together in two years. We all thought we were dreaming.”
“It’s put us off ever using Airbnb again.”
Airbnb refunded the $1800 and have offered to reimburse the $2600.
