And it appears the cat is out of the bag for Northland, as Whangārei Heads residents spotted a chopper - spray cylinder and all - hovering low to the ground midday on Friday.
One resident on Mt Tiger Rd was so concerned by the unmarked low-flying helicopter that seemed to be "taking a very close look" at the area they called police.
It was the first time in seven years they had seen a chopper flying so low scoping out the surroundings.
The resident said police on the phone noted the details and said they would contact the local police office.
A photo of the chopper in question was posted to Facebook where many people commented saying it was linked to the aerial cannabis blitz. Others thought maybe it was Northpower checking the lines.
Northpower spokeswoman Rachel Wansbone confirmed it wasn't one of theirs.
Given police are staying mum on the operation, it's difficult to 100 per cent confirm the helicopter is part of the cannabis blitz.
However, if the likely scenario proves true it might come as a disappointment to the region's public health groups and drug educators who commended last year's decision to stop the operation.
Northland public health groups and drug educators previously told the Advocate the decision had the chance to free up police resources to be used for tackling the methamphetamine epidemic instead.
A police spokesperson said the "one-size-fits-all" yearly aerial cannabis operation "didn't represent the most appropriate deployment of police resources".
"We wanted to enable districts to use their resources to target whichever drugs were causing the most harm in their area. This recognises that districts are best placed to make these operational decisions ...
"Drugs are known drivers of crime and revenue streams for organised crime groups ... police's focus is to reduce the impacts of drug use and organised crime in our communities by stopping this supply," they said.
"This year, a number of districts are including an annual aerial cannabis flying phase as part of their campaigns to target these illicit operations."
At the time of last year's announcement to pause the nationwide operation, the Far North's top cop, Inspector Riki Whiu, said the change didn't mean an end to cannabis recovery operations in Northland.
But that police would focus on the most harmful drugs such as methamphetamine and synthetics.
''The money that would go into a single operation will be diverted into a more consistent approach over the whole 12 months," Whiu said last January.
Whiu carried on to say Northland police never planned to take their "foot off the pedal regarding commercial cannabis operations that are profiting from harm".
Funding was still available to individual police districts if they decided aerial searches were the best way to combat the drug.
