Editorial: Time for a rethink on how we police P

The seizure of close to half a tonne of methamphetamine in Northland is a story reverberating around the world.

Nowhere more so than right here in Northland.

This drug bust is the largest meth - aka P - haul in New Zealand.

It happened because some locals in Ahipara raised more than an eyebrow at the antics of visitors trying to launch a boat off 90 Mile Beach.

Police heard about it, and there ensued some fine reactive policing. I would love to have seen the face of the police officer or officers who busted the campervan containing 448kg of methamphetamine believed to have been brought in from a vessel off 90 Mile Beach. Not your average police check on a vehicle. Police have rightly been praised for the haul.

But it has also sent ripples of disquiet through Northland, and hopefully these tremors have made it all the way to the Minister of Police. The way in which drug crime is policed in New Zealand has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Northland, like many districts, once had a designated drug squad. No longer - modern-day policing strategy that dictates how local police brass run their districts has changed. Perhaps it is time for the Minister of Police to rethink how New Zealand polices P.

There have been community concerns growing about this drug's link to crime (not just drug crime) and mental health for years. Only a few weeks ago we learned a rapist was on P when he molested a toddler and apparently did not know what he was doing. If the meth seized this week was destined for the local market, the landscape has changed dramatically since police were last told how to approach drug crime. P is a mainstay of the organised crime economy.

There is a prime opportunity for increased proactive investigation to complement the outstanding reactive Northland policing being showcased around the world this week. And if the minister needs a reason other than an election next year to make changes, it is simple - the P problem is getting worse, not better.