Over 450 charges have been laid against 248 people as a result of this year's cannabis recovery operation in Central District.
Over 9,000 cannabis plants were recovered and it is estimated that a saving of more than $25m in social harm costs has been made.
Operations are held across the country every year with a spotting phase gathering intelligence on where the cannabis crops are being grown and who is behind the growing. This is followed by a recovery and arrest phase which includes officers being winched down from Air Force Iroquois helicopters to yank the plants from the ground.
The topography of Central District led to recoveries in Taranaki, Ruapehu, Whanganui and Manawatu. The biggest seizure of plants from one plot was 320 in the Taranaki. In Whanganui a 44-year-old man is before the courts following a seizure of 248 plants, around $46,000 cash, three rifles, a semi-automatic pistol, ammunition and a large quantity of dried cannabis.
From the aerial operation 6,053 plants were recovered with a further 3,316 retrieved following the execution of search warrants, bringing the total seizure to 9,369 plants.
During the operation, in addition to cannabis plants, Police recovered:
• 13,241 grams of dried cannabis
• 370 cannabis seeds
• 83 cannabis oil caps
• 58 grams of methampethamine
• 11 morphine sulphate tablets
• 17 rifles
• 2 shotguns
• 3 handguns
• 313 rounds of ammunition
Central District spokesperson, Constable Dave Kirk said: "Year after year these people think that they can grow plots and we won't find them, and year after year we outsmart them. Central District did recover fewer plants this year. This is in line with the national trend and hopefully a sign that we are gradually winning the war.
"Make no mistake we will be back next year. The bottom line is that we don't want drugs on our streets and we won't back down until we have disrupted the trade."
Area results for aerial recovery phase
Taranaki - 1905 plants
Ruapehu - 1137 plants
Whanganui -1402 plants
Manawatu -1609 plants
Note: Social harm is the estimated financial cost of the cannabis trade on health, education, employment, the benefits system and so on.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown for the search warrant recoveries or the arrests but a total of 139 warrants were executed in Central District.
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 06 351 2546 or 027 234 8256.
