On a hot summer's day a South Auckland man's unlicensed chicken processing operation continued in full swing, amid flies and pools of chicken blood on a garage floor and benchtop.
Rong Yu Zhen ran his chicken farm on a rural Flat Bush property, but in the main work area, there was no refrigeration and plucked chickens became a risk to bacterial and chemical contamination.
Nevertheless, Zhen sold his chickens to restaurants and they were served up on the plates of unsuspecting customers.
Zhen's unlawful business was uncovered by Ministry of Primary Industries officers posing as customers in a sting dubbed Operation Ginger.
An officer saw a newspaper advertisement and called Zhen up.