Seven men are to go before the court after police found methamphetamine and other hard drugs, a meth lab, and cash amid a rural drug manufacturing bust.
The New Zealand Defence Force helped police with three search warrants for properties in Whanganui, Hamilton and Auckland, where officers found a gun, a “significant” amount of cash, and other class A and B drugs; LSD and GBL.
Police found over 19kg of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $6.7 million, along with pre-cursor chemicals and equipment for “large, commercial-scale” manufacture.
Police seized 19 “high value” vehicles: five motorcycles, two boats, two jet skis and a caravan as part of Operation Gallium - a long-term investigation into a group manufacturing meth rurally.