Police seize 40kg of greenstone in raid

File. Photo / The Daily Post

Police seized 40kg of pounamu in a raid on a Kaniere property yesterday at the request of West Coast iwi Ngai Tahu.

West Coast police area commander Inspector John Canning said officers seized a quantity of what was believed to be 'snowflake' pounamu stolen from the Cascade Plateau, near Haast.

Two years ago, police raided two Hokitika jade shops and seized millions of dollars of Cascade pounamu. A court subsequently ordered its return to Ngai Tahu.

Police said at the time that because snowflake pounamu was found only on the Cascade Plateau, which had never been legally mined, it was all stolen property.

Mr Canning said police would be speaking to a Kaniere man about the confiscated stone next week.

"We executed the warrant after an agent working on behalf of Ngai Tahu obtained a search warrant through the courts."

Mr Canning said he did not know the monetary value of the stone, and was unsure whether it was still in a raw state or had been worked.

He said yesterday's raid was part of an ongoing operation.

"People need to have a licence to use snowflake. Letters were sent to everyone about this 18 months ago. Most people have abided by this, however those who haven't can expect a knock on the door."

- The Greymouth Star