Police recover 10,134 cannabis plants in Central District operation
New Zealand police recovered 10,134 cannabis plants from 87 plots across the Central District in their annual cannabis recovery operation, using Air Force helicopters and more than 70 search warrants, and laid 336 charges against 165 identified offenders.
🇳🇿 Central District, North Island, including Taranaki, Ruapehu, Whanganui and Manawatu · New Zealand
New Zealand police recovered 10,134 cannabis plants across the Central District in their annual cannabis recovery operation, up from 6,374 plants the year before.[1][2]The operation combined an intelligence phase with an aerial phase using Air Force Iroquois helicopters to winch officers into plots, plus a ground phase with more than 70 search warrants against cultivators and dealers.[1][2]Of the total, 5,346 plants came from the aerial operation and 4,788 from 78 search warrants.[1][2]
Cannabis grows were found at 87 plots, and police said 165 offenders had been identified, resulting in 336 charges.[1][2]Officers also recovered firearms and ammunition, a large sum of cash, quantities of methamphetamine and cannabis oil, and stolen property.[1][2]The district’s aerial results were broken down as Taranaki with 1,953 plants, Ruapehu with 1,816, Whanganui with 754 and Manawatu with 823.[1][2]
Operation coordinator Detective Senior Sergeant Keith Borrell credited public tip-offs, including calls to Crimestoppers, for the rise, especially against indoor grows in sheds, spare bedrooms and even an underground bunker.[1][2]Plot sizes ranged from five to 150 plants, and a damp growing season was also blamed for the higher numbers.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Both opened pages carry the same police account, so no independent press version confirms the figures.
The two pages disagree on the cash recovered, over three quarters of a million dollars on the police page against over a quarter of a million in the reprint; no cash figure is recorded here.
Cannabis oil, methamphetamine, firearms, ammunition and stolen property were also recovered, but no separate counts were published.
No photograph verifiably showing this operation with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
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