Guns, drugs, cash seized in raids

Photo / File

Police have arrested three people and recovered guns, drugs and large amounts of cash in a series of raids around Palmerston North.

Investigators arrested a man and a woman after executing a search warrant at a rural property at Hope Street in Woodville on Tuesday.

They had found more than a dozen firearms, including pistols, rifles and a shotgun, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash hidden in various places around the property.

Several small quantities of a crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine and a small amount of cannabis were also recovered along with some drug utensils, police said.

A 35-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man appeared at Palmerston North District yesterday afternoon facing 14 charges of unlawfully possessing firearms.

Further investigations were being carried out and more charges could be laid, police said.

Another police search of a property on Grey Street in Woodville revealed an underground concrete bunker being used to grow cannabis.

Inside the bunker, the house and in the yard a total of 150 plants and seedlings were found, police said.

A 47-year-old man from Woodville appeared in Palmerston North District Court yesterday afternoon charged with cannabis cultivation.

Police also found 172 cannabis plants being grown at a house on Pohangina Valley Road on Monday. No arrests have been made.

Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Sheridan said the arrests showed police could uncover drug operations in remote locations.

"These cases demonstrate that it is irrelevant where in New Zealand you reside, of how much you attempt to hide your criminality. If you choose to involve yourself with drugs, we will find out and we will come for you."