Thousands of dollars worth of stolen property, hundreds of cannabis plants and a methamphetamine drug labratory have been discovered by police during a raid on an organised crime ring in Whangarei.
More than 20 police staff searched five properties on Tuesday as part of an operation targeting a group believed to be involved in a burglary ring stealing from residential properties and taking vehicles.
The searches uncovered a large indoor cannabis growing operation at a Whangarei property and they seized 330 plants, which were at various stages of growth. At Onerahi a methamphetamine lab was found and police also found some chemicals and equipment used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Five people were arrested; a 53-year-old man, two 22-year-old men, a 31-year-old woman, and a 21-year-old woman.
They appeared in the Whangarei District Court on Wednesday facing numerous charges including burglary, cultivating cannabis, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession for supply of cannabis, possession of equipment/precursor to manufacture methamphetamine, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and theft.
