Police seize six thousand cannabis plants

Officers recovered more than 6000 cannabis plants. Photo / NZ Police

Six thousand cannabis plants will never fulfil the destiny their growers dreamed of after police seized the plants.

Officers recovered more than 6000 cannabis plants as part of Operation Jasmin, an annual crime and ganja recovery, Central District Police said.

More than 4100 dope plants were recovered from the aerial phase in Central District with the remaining 2474 plants coming from search warrants, police said.

"An estimated $20 million dollars has been saved in social harm costs from the Central operation," police said in a statement today.

The operation began with an intelligence-gathering phase, with an aerial recovery phase using New Zealand Air Force Iroquois and NH90 helicopters winching police officers into cannabis plots.

Central District police were the last district to use the Iroquois helicopter as part of the aerial phase and Senior Constable Dave Kirk recovered the last dak plants ever to be brought on board the aircraft.

"We have been using the Iroquois for about 20 years as part of the operation and it has been worth its weight in gold," Mr Kirk said.