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Armed police, using stun grenades, raided an apartment in central Hamilton yesterday as lunchtime shoppers watched in amazement.
The raid shut down a sophisticated cannabis-growing operation, which included a variety of plant called "White Rhino".
A drug team supported by armed officers stormed an apartment accessed above the Kathmandu and Vodafone stores.
Stun grenades were used during the raid, blasts that could be heard from the footpath on the opposite side of the street.
Police communications spokesman Andrew McAlley said about 400 plants had been seized during the swoop, and three people had been arrested and taken away for questioning.
"A warrant was executed under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Police found a significant amount of packaged cannabis, in what was a large, sophisticated, clandestine growing operation."
The upstairs apartment had included a hidden room.
A firearm was also found during the bust, although Mr McAlley could not say what type of gun it was.
The plants were a mixture of mature ones and seedlings, and included a strand of cannabis known as White Rhino.
White Rhino has a reputation for its high THC content, the active ingredient in cannabis.
When mature, white crystals form on the plant which cover its flowers, after which it is harvested.
Although police were unable to say what the hydroponic cannabis trade was valued at within the region, production of the drug in outdoor operations was estimated at $74 million in the Waikato, Mr McAlley said.
He defended the police's use of the armed offenders squad in downtown Hamilton during business and shopping hours.
Recent police operations in the region had focused on military-style guns known to have fallen into the hands of criminals, he said.
A Vodafone saleswoman next to where the drama unfolded said she knew a pair of men who lived upstairs.
She described them as normal, friendly "everyday" kind of men, aged in their 40s or 50s, who often said hello and went on early morning walks.
Of European descent, they were owners of several properties in the city, she said, and had just finished renovating their central city apartment.
She was surprised the apartment was at the centre of a drug bust.
A surveillance camera is mounted on a wall, which points down to an area at the base of the apartment's rear.
