Family of accused P-makers on run

File photo

A family crime syndicate accused of making and dealing the highly addictive drug P are wanted by Northland police.

Police have released the names and photographs of four people they want public help to find, but warn they are considered dangerous and should not be approached if spotted.

Whangarei Detective Andrew Glendinning said a mother and her daughter, plus the mother's partner and his brother allegedly regularly used motel and bach accommodation and public storage units or yards for serious drug offending.

Mr Glendinning alleged they were known to carry and use firearms and should not be approached.

They are Jayne Crompton (also known as Jayne Ethelstone), 45, Samantha Crompton, 23, Marc Ethelstone, 33 and Dean Fredrick Theobald, 39.

Police say the four have family connections in Northland and associates in South Auckland.

Last month, police arrested a crime syndicate using top end holiday accommodation in Northland and Auckland to make the drug P.

Three methamphetamine, or P, labs were discovered in the raids on 10 properties in Whangarei, Wellsford and Auckland.

One lab was discovered in a Whangarei storage unit, while in Howick, Auckland, another lab was operating out of a shipping container.

A third was in Pakiri, 25km east of Warkworth.

The searches uncovered 10g of methamphetamine as well as firearms, chemical components, utensils and some cannabis at the various lab sites.

During one of four search warrants carried out in Whangarei, police found cannabis oil, cannabis utensils, indoor cultivation equipment and two shotguns.

At a Wellsford property, police officers found stolen laptops, ammunition and utensils for cooking and manufacturing methamphetamine.

Police confirmed the crime syndicate, with gang links, rented top end holiday accommodation, motels and bachs to make P.

Northland police communications officer Sarah Kennett said the group normally targeted accommodation along coastal areas of Auckland and Northland, and on beaches such as Pakiri.

A property at Waipu had also been used.

A 37-year-old South Auckland man has appeared in Manukau District Court on charges of possessing methamphetamine for supply, possessing precursor equipment and chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine, and breaching home-detention conditions.