Hawke's Bay police found 97 individual zip-lock bags of synthetic cannabis during a routine traffic stop on Wednesday.
Police stopped a driver on Flaxmere Avenue in the suburb near Hastings about 1pm, because his vehicle did not appear to meet the standard for a warrant of fitness.
After being stopped, the driver, a 25-year-old man, tried to throw a bag and cellphone back into the car.
The bag contained cannabis and cash. Police then searched the car and found two large zip-lock bags containing at total of 97 smaller bags of synthetic cannabis.
Senior Sergeant Steve Nicoll said it was likely that the synthetic cannabis would have ended up causing "significant harm" in the community.
