Four men on cannabis charges remanded in custody again

A flourishing forest of cannabis was found in five glasshouses at a rural property near Dargaville. Photo / NZ Police

Four men charged over a cannabis-growing operation involving more than 4000 plants in five glasshouses on a rural Northland property have been remanded in custody again.

The four men appeared in the Whangārei District Court yesterday, with the aid of a Vietnamese interpreter.

Minh Nhat Nguyen, 24, from Clover Park in Auckland, Nhat Quan Nguyen, 20, from Mount Wellington in Auckland, and 44-year-old Chu Thanh and 45-year-old Dang Cu, whose addresses are unknown, are all charged with cultivating cannabis.

At a February court appearance the four men entered not guilty pleas and elected trial by jury.

Judge John McDonald remanded the four men in custody until August 18 for the hearing.

The men were arrested in what police said was one of the largest cannabis-growing operations found in the region in recent years.

More than 20 staff, including from the Northland District and the Financial Crime Group, executed a search warrant at a property on Oturei Settlement Rd, near Aratapu, Dargaville, in January this year.

During the raid five glasshouses filled with more than 4000 plants were discovered. Some plants were seized and the others sprayed with weed killer in a blue dye.

The property, about 10km southeast of Dargaville, was put into lockdown while the police team worked in the area for three days.

One of the glasshouses, which was crammed with plants of various sizes from seedlings to mature plants up to 2.5m high, was more than 60m wide.