Surprise P lab discovery near Okaihau

Police got more than they bargained for when they went to investigate a report of domestic violence at a house near Okaihau.

Police called to a domestic violence incident found more than they bargained for after they stumbled over a P lab at the house next door.

The find, at a house near Okaihau, came less than three weeks after police busted a major methamphetamine lab on Mataraua Rd, south of Kaikohe. In that case they seized methamphetamine worth about $700,000 and arrived just as a fresh batch of the drug was being cooked.

Senior Sergeant Brian Swann, of Kaikohe police, said laboratory glassware and precursor chemicals were found in the Okaihau bust. It may have formed only part of a clandestine drugs lab and was not active at the time.

Police found the lab when they were called to an unrelated domestic assault on Thursday.

"The offender had left the address so we went looking for him next door. There we came across some cannabis plants growing in the backyard so we carried out a search and found a small meth lab."

The couple who normally live at the house were not home at the time. Police know who they are but had yet to catch up with them as of yesterday.

In the Mataraua Rd case two people, Anthony Stillwell, 34, and Brook Williams, 22, were arrested and each charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of equipment, manufacturing methamphetamine, and possession for supply of methamphetamine.

A third person who turned up as police were searching the house, Wini Isaac Ashby, 38, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of utensils for methamphetamine.