Big cannabis haul and 17 arrests
Nelson reporter A seven-day operation against cannabis growers in the Nelson-Marlborough area netted the police 7652 cannabis plants which would have been worth about $9,182 million and resulted in 17 arrests.
On the average, about 500 grams of cannabis (about one pound, the measure drug suppliers use) is obtained from each plant at maturity. Cannabis sells for about $l2OO a pound on the streets.
The commander of the Nelson police district, Superintendent Norman Stanhope, described the operation, which involved a force of 28, as “most successful.”
As a result of the raids, in which a helicopter was used, 17 people were arrested.
Three of these — described by Mr Stanhope as “a bonus” — related to the receiving of $25,000 worth of stolen property, including television sets and video recorders.
The goods were found in a house searched for cannabis.
The plants were at various stages of growth, from seedlings to others 1.524 m high.
Arrests were three times as many as in raids executed at the same time last year, and 2500 more plants were found.
Police throughout the Nelson police district — which extends from Kaikoura through to Golden Bay, and down to Murchison, and Wellington were involved in the operation. An R.N.Z.A.F. Iroquois helicopter was again used. The largest haul was about 500 plants in one plot which the growers thought was “cleverly” hidden among gorse and scrub. Some plots had been established just off the bank of the Motueka River, near Tapawera. Mr Stanhope declined to say over what areas the searches had taken place. Further raids would take place, he said. >: Most of the arrests related to either possessing or cultivating cannabis. Nobody had been charged with supplying, he said. Mr Stanhope thanked the public, which “provided a considerable amount of information before the operation, and without which we wouldn’t have been as successful as we were.” All the cannabis taken has been, or was being destroyed, he said.
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Press, 17 December 1985, Page 16
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327Big cannabis haul and 17 arrests Press, 17 December 1985, Page 16
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