The results from the Northern area's 'Big Day Out 2' operation today showed that some people are living very well off the proceeds of crime says Senior Sergeant Roy Appley.
The day started at 7am with a briefing for 61 Police officers and a drug dog at Papanui Police Station while TAG set up a boy racer cordon at Cranford/Main North Rd corner.
TAG stopped and breath tested 200 vehicles, wrote out numerous ION'S - a total of 2100 vehicles went through the check point. A stolen mountain bike was recovered and returned to its owner after an offender dumped the bike down the road from the check point and ran off.
At around 8am ten teams of six police conducted 10 search warrants in the Christchurch area and Kaiapoi CIB executed another in their patch.
As a result six people were charges with 15 charges: Cultivates Cannabis x 4, Possess Cannabis x 2, Supply Cannabis x 3, Possess Ecstasy x 2, Supply Ecstasy x 2 and 2 x Possess Class B.
Team Policing went to a large number of addresses and locked up eight offenders for WTA'S. They executed a search warrant after finding stolen property at an address in Aranui. Included in the stolen property located were three laptops and sporting equipment.
From the search warrants police located 3oz cannabis, $3,700 in cash from the sale of cannabis, 14 large cannabis plants and 41 smaller plants, in excess of 50 Ecstasy pills, Cannabis Oil, several bags of Cannabis and four firearms. Three hydroponic cannabis growing operations were found and the equipment seized and destroyed.
"In the afternoon we targeted known criminals in the northern area looking for persons wanted on WTA'S," says Senior Sergeant Appley.
"Today was about holding drug dealers to account, particularly for the type of offence which is usually at the lower end of our priorities," he says. "Today shows you will never know when police will knock at your door and you will be caught."
Senior Sergeant Appley says that at at least two addresses people were living very well on the proceeds of crime.