Methamphetamine and 'legal highs' tend to get the bulk of the publicity these days, but the Far North is still home to a thriving cannabis cultivating industry judging by Operation Lucy, which wound up last week.
The annual police cannabis recovery operation saw more than 46,000 plants seized, including 526 yielded by a large indoor growing operation at Paranui, inland from Taipa, an enterprise that police estimate would have generated revenue of close to $2 million a year.
Forty-four-year-old Taipa man Michael Bouman has been charged with cultivating cannabis, possession for supply and possession of equipment for cultivation. He has been remanded in custody without plea, and is due to appear in court again on May 8.
Northland police criminal investigations manager Detective Inspector Kevin Burke said information received via Crimestoppers had led police to some large growing operations, including the one at Paranui.
"It is encouraging to see the public contacting police or calling Crimestoppers when they notice suspicious activity or have information about illicit drug operations. This is about the public taking a stand, and helping police to reduce crime and stop these drugs harming the community," he said.
A total of 46,224 cannabis plants had been located in the course of Operation Lucy, along with 37 grams of methamphetamine, 40 firearms, $10,525 in cash, and stolen property including a $4000 motorbike and a $9000 trailer. Ninety-two people had been arrested on a raft of drug charges.
Detective Inspector Burke said police were also using the Criminal Proceeds Act as a deterrent to those who chose to gain financially from "this criminal activity".
"The profit they make from this activity ultimately deprives the Northland community as a whole," he said, adding that locating the Paranui operation alone would put a large dent in the illicit drug trade.
"This is not long after we located a large cannabis growing operation in Whangarei that contained 320 plants [this was a separate police effort to Operation Lucy], so police are making in-roads into this crime, and will continue to do so," he said.
"Cannabis does cause serious harm to the community, particularly young people, as it affects their developing brains."
According to the Drug Harm Index, more than $100 million in social harm was caused by the cannabis found in Northland. That harm included a wide range of tangible costs such as crime, lost work output, health service use and other diverted resources, along with psychological or intangible costs, such as reduced quality or length of life.
Detective Inspector Burke said this year's crime and cannabis operation involved a number of police staff from across the district, including road policing, CIB and public safety teams. The involvement of the former enabled the policing of roads in areas that were not frequently visited. As a result that, 10 high-risk drivers were identified and 409 tickets were issued for various traffic infringements.
"So as well as ridding Northland of several thousand cannabis plants and holding more than 90 offenders to account, police were highly visible and making the community safer in a number of ways," he said.