Cannabis haul over-estimated?

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 4

Cannabis haul over-estimated?

PA Wellington A police claim that cannabis seized in South Canterbury this summer has been worth $l3 million is

too high, said some police sources. The “Evening Post” reported some policemen felt the figure was “too optimistic.”

The Timaru police said this week that the recent record haul in South Canterbury was worth $l3 million. It followed the recovery on Sunday and Monday of about 3000 cannabis plants they said were worth $3 million. The haul brought the total recovered this season to 13,000 plants — a record for the area. However, one Timaru policeman yesterday described the $l3 million figure as “rubbish,” saying that it could come only from potential sales of fully grown cannabis. Many of the plants seized were too small to be har-

vested, he said. The actual value of the

vested, he said.

plants was therefore much lower, but he was not prepared to quote a figure. A Wellington C. 1.8. spokesman said it was often “dangerous” to price recovered cannabis, and that the police were often pressed by the news media into it. A 1.2 to 1.5 metre plant could yield up to 500 g of dried cannabis, which was usually worth $lOOO — a rule of thumb sometimes used to estimate a price. “But so much depends on demand, the time of year, and .the standard of the plantf among other things,” he s&l