P lab found by chance

ESR scientists examine items removed yesterday from a Mt Albert house. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Police raided a P lab in a plain weatherboard house in suburban Auckland at 7am yesterday.

Forensic staff in white boiler suits scoured the property in the largely state house area of Hendon Ave, Mt Albert.

Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Baird said police "were actually doing an investigation into something else and flicked on to this".

Although the house had all the equipment and chemicals necessary to produce the Class A drug methamphetamine, it wasn't being used as a lab at the time, he said.

A 33-year-old man appeared in Auckland District Court yesterday on charges related to manufacturing a Class A drug.

Police have busted several P labs around the country in the past two years, at least two among some of Auckland's most expensive real estate, including the Metropolis apartment building in central Auckland and another in Orakei's exclusive Paritai Drive.