Stash of rifles, cash, cannabis found in woodshed

Loaded semi-automatic rifles, $20,000 cash in a freezer, cannabis plants, and a room hidden in a wood stack were found when police searched the property of a man accused of drug dealing and money laundering, a jury has been told.

At the start of the month-long trial in Nelson District Court, the Crown also alleged that analysis of Graham Donald Sturgeon's finances indicated more than $100,000 of unexplained money.

Sturgeon, 47, a wood merchant, of Orinoco, near Motueka, has denied 14 charges - three of cultivating cannabis, two of selling cannabis, a charge of possessing cannabis for sale, two charges of possessing offensive weapons, and six charges of money laundering, involving a total of $62,658.

Opening the Crown case, prosecutor Janine Bonifant said that on February 4, 2003, police searched Sturgeon's property near Motueka.

They found a tunnel in a wood shed leading into the centre of the wood stack. There, they found a room 3m long, 3m wide and 2.5m high, which was lined with reflective foil and had ventilation shafts.

Items found included 1kg of dried cannabis heads in a bucket, cannabis seeds, and $20,000 cash in seven bundles inside a chest freezer.

A semi-automatic rifle was beside Sturgeon's bed, and a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle was found next to a hot-water cylinder. Both rifles were loaded, Ms Bonifant said.

Ten days later, police doing an aerial drug recovery operation spotted cannabis plots in and around Sturgeon's property, Ms Bonifant said.

They found 68 cannabis plants and various irrigation systems at the plots.

Analysis of Sturgeon's financial affairs from April 1, 1997, to May 27, 2003, by a forensic accountant, indicated the unexplained funds.

- NZPA