Cannabis found in North Shore domain

One witness said police removed about 30 bags of cannabis from the Birkenhead Domain yesterday. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

Several cannabis plots were discovered in a North Shore park yesterday afternoon, but police are not revealing how they found them.

The plots, which contained around 150 plants ranging from seedlings to nearly mature specimens, were in dense bush on the eastern side of Birkenhead Domain.

They were in an area that was not likely to be stumbled on by members of the public, who frequently walk through the domain.

Takapuna Sergeant Glenn Nalder would not say how police had found out about the plots, only that the discovery was not part of a planned operation.

"Birkenhead Domain is quite a large area and in parts it's quite heavily forested so someone's gone to a little bit of effort to make their way through the bush to find a secluded area," he said.

Mr Nalder described the find as being of moderate size, but could not give a monetary value last night.

Dave Larson, an attendant at the Glenfield Rd Shell petrol station across the road from the domain, said a police helicopter started circling overhead about 2.30pm.

Several police cars turned up soon afterwards, and officers spent about three hours collecting around 30 bags of material from the domain, said Mr Larson.

Neighbours were surprised to hear that police had uncovered a cannabis plantation across the road.

"There are lots of tracks and huge amounts of people going through there," said one person living near the park.

"I take the dogs through there all the time, and never suspected anything. This is not a dodgy area."

Mr Nalder said he was also surprised by the find.

"North Shore is one of the safest places in the world to live so in that sense yes, I am surprised that someone has committed a crime in my area."

* Takapuna police are now hunting for the person or people who cultivated the plants and want to hear from anyone who has noticed suspicious activity in the area.

Ph: 488 6200.