Operation Julia destroyed 124,000 cannabis plants in 2007-08 season
New Zealand police destroyed about 124,000 cannabis plants and arrested 780 people during the 2007-08 National Cannabis and Crime Operation, Operation Julia; in Northland alone officers seized more than 45,000 plants and arrested over 200 people.
New Zealand police destroyed approximately 124,000 cannabis plants and arrested 780 offenders
during the national cannabis operation of the 2007-08 growing season.[1]The operation, named
Operation Julia, ran across the November-to-March growing season, when growers trespass on farms
to hide plots among tall maize crops and on unused land.[1][2]
In Northland, police arrested more than 200 people on drug offences and seized more than 45,000
cannabis plants during Julia.[2]Ahead of the next season, rural Taranaki police asked
landowners to watch for strangers and vehicles, to check for signs of interference, and to report
anything relevant, with all calls kept in confidence.[1]
Bigger season to follow
Police said the follow-up National Cannabis and Crime Operation, Operation Kristy, which started
the next December and finished at the end of March 2009, produced more arrests and more cannabis
than Julia.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Police destroyed around 360 cannabis plants found under 15 tents in a Queen Street warehouse in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland. The search warrant was executed on Thursday, 14 May 2026, after an electrician reported unusual wiring, ventilation pipes and a cannabis smell.
Police announced on 25 September 2025 that a month-long operation in Auckland had shut 120 cannabis grow houses, destroyed more than 11,000 plants and seized more than 10 tonnes of cannabis. Thirty people were arrested, most Vietnamese nationals facing deportation, and police put the black-market value at more than NZ$50 million.
New Zealand police seized more than 34,000 cannabis plants and 79 kg of dried cannabis, together valued at about $95 million, in the summer national aerial eradication operation, with results announced 6 May 2022. Officers ran 123 searches, seizing 80 firearms and dismantling 24 indoor commercial grows.
Police destroyed 16,307 cannabis plants in Northland during Operation Jess, run from mid-January to mid-March 2018, the highest district tally in that year's national eradication programme. Officers also seized dried cannabis, firearms, cash and stolen property.
