Man arrested on Atiu after police find 40 cannabis plants
Cook Islands police arrested a man in February 2025 after Atiu officers found cannabis plants near a makeshift nursery inland and seized 40 plants. He was transferred to Rarotonga for his court case, and the island's two police officers say they now routinely monitor cultivation.
Cook Islands police arrested a man in February 2025 after Atiu police found
cannabis plants near a makeshift nursery located inland on the island.[1]Cook
Islands News reported in January 2025 that the arrested man was found with 40
cannabis plants, a case police used to warn cultivators across Rarotonga and the
Pa Enua, the Cook Islands’ outer islands.[2]Several of the plants were
confiscated and destroyed, and police warned residents against cultivating
cannabis.[1]
The man was transferred to Rarotonga, where his court case was still pending in
June 2025.[1]Senior Constable Tuaine Rakei, who had been in charge of the
Atiu police station for 18 years, said the arrest was the first cannabis
cultivation case he had encountered on the island.[1]Rakei said he and his
single colleague, the island’s only two police officers, were now routinely
inspecting the area so that cultivation did not escalate.[1]
Rakei said both officers go around to inspect and monitor such activity, and he
put the island’s population at 383.[1]He said crime on Atiu is mostly minor,
chiefly traffic offences, domestic disputes and occasional thefts.[1]
Photos and video
Senior Constable Tuaine Rakei at the police station in Atiu, pictured for the report on the surveillance that followed the February arrest. Photo: Talaia Mika/Cook Islands NewsPhoto details
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Source: Cook Islands NewsThe police station in Atiu, the island's only station, staffed by two officers. Photo: Talaia Mika/Cook Islands NewsPhoto details
The Cook Islands has no separate tracker country entry, so the New Zealand country entry is used, as in the existing Cook Islands reports.
The sources give only the month of the February 2025 arrest; 15 February stands in for the month and no exact day is reported.
Only the January 2025 report gives a plant count of 40; the June article says only that several plants were confiscated and destroyed, so whether all 40 were destroyed or some kept as evidence is not stated.
No weight, area or cash value was published for the seizure.
The man's name, age, exact charges and court outcome are not reported; the case was pending in Rarotonga as of June 2025.
The January 2025 report beyond its opening paragraph is behind a subscription notice in the archived capture, so only its summary sentence could be read.
Only Cook Islands News has been found reporting this case; no police statement or second outlet could be opened.
The two page photographs show the Atiu police station and its senior constable, not the plants or the nursery, so no picture of the seizure itself is listed.
Police found $54,000 in a shoebox when they stopped an 18-year-old's car on Theodosia Street in Timaru, and a search of his home turned up more cash and a small amount of drugs. The Christchurch teenager appeared in the Timaru District Court the same day charged with supply and possession for supply of cannabis, and was remanded on bail until 1 December.
A three-month operation ended with search warrants at two New Plymouth properties, six arrests and the seizure of cash, cannabis, methamphetamine, a rifle and a homemade taser. A 27-year-old woman faces cannabis supply charges and was remanded until 29 October.
A 37-year-old man was charged with importing Class A and Class C controlled drugs, alleged to be methamphetamine and cannabis, after Cook Islands Customs officers detected the drugs at the Aitutaki International Wharf on 14 April 2026. Customs and police issued a joint statement on the case.
Cook Islands Police arrested a 36-year-old man at Rarotonga International Airport after Customs found more than a kilogram of cannabis in two packages in his luggage. He was remanded in custody after a court appearance on the Saturday, 22 November 2025.
