Detective Inspector Bruce Good said among those arrested in Whangarei this morning were two teenage boys were allegedly caught with an estimated $2.5 million worth of methamphetamine in a luxury Mercedes Benz car on an Auckland motorway in November.
"Leading up to our termination in Whangarei this morning we had discovered a large scale methamphetamine manufacturing operation based in a rural location close to Whangarei.
"We believe this operation was coordinated by and for the Head Hunters outlaw motorcycle group."
Detective Inspector Kevin Burke said police intelligence indicated the operation had the capacity to produce $3 million worth of methamphetamine a week.
"During these operations, search warrants were executed in seven of the 12 police districts, which illustrates the scope of this organised criminal network," Mr Burke said.
Mr Good said the Whangarei operation that was shut down this morning may have been one of the clandestine labs used by the Head Hunters to supply the South Island methamphetamine market.
"When you have cooks producing $3 million worth of methamphetamine in three days you start to see the size of the problem."
Mr Good said while the Head Hunters were the target of operations this year, there were several other organised criminal groups running similar methamphetamine operations.
"They are well organised, well resourced and seemingly highly profitable.
"Police will continue to work hard to reduce the harm that methamphetamine causes in our community by targeting the organised criminal groups that manufacture and supply this destructive drug."
