A "reasonable amount" of cash and 11kg of cannabis worth up $44,000 were found in a major drug bust near Te Hana - and police say more raids are coming up.
Inspector Kevin Brady, acting area commander for Rodney, said a rural property near Te Hana was raided on Friday by officers accompanied by members of the police Armed Offenders Squad.
Three separate cannabis plantations were found on the property, with more than 20 plants seized, along with more than 11kg of good quality dried cannabis that was ready for distribution.
A reasonable sum of cash and seven high-powered air rifles and pistols were recovered, Mr Brady said.
A 41-year-old Rodney man was to appear in the North Shore District court later this month on drugs and firearms charges.
Mr Brady did not want to put a value on the seized cannabis, but Northern Advocate inquiries show that a kilogram of good quality cannabis sells for between $3000 and $4000.
He would not say where the information came from that led to the bust or if any more arrests were likely, saying inquiries were ongoing and he did not want to jeopardise those.
But, he told the Northern Advocate, Rodney police were working on a number of ongoing drug inquiries.
"The community can expect us to report on a number of operations that will be coming in the near future," Inspector Brady said.
He said the Crimestoppers 0800 number (0800 555 111) was proving invaluable to police and he urged the public to use the number if they saw any suspicious activity, not only drug related.
In Northland, police also have the 0800 BAN DRUGS (0800 226 378) hotline for people to report suspected drug activity.
Mr Brady said all calls to the numbers would be treated in confidence.
He said Friday's bust was another excellent result for Rodney police who have been working very hard to reduce the effect and influence drug dealers.
"The focus remains very much on a positive response to dealing with criminality of this nature and this seizure will stop or significantly disrupt this particular operation," Mr Brady said.
"Drugs are a menace to our society and with the assistance of the community we will continue to make inroads into this crime problem in Rodney. The police in Rodney will continue to deal with a number of investigations concerning drug cultivation and the public can
expect further police action shortly."
