Police make massive drug bust (update) | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Police say the location of one of the country's biggest drug busts to date is no reflection of the extent of the area's P problem.

Police seized 952g of methamphetamine from a rural location on State Highway 1, north of Taupo, and say the discovery, thought to be worth around $800,000, was expected to curb organised crime in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

Inspector Steve Bullock of the Taupo Police said methamphetamine labs were clandestine by their very nature and could be set up anywhere.

"The fact it was located in the Taupo area is no reflection of the prevalence of methamphetamine in Taupo or in the area in general."

He said the "evil" drug could have been on its way anywhere and the lab's location was likely chosen because it was seen as "isolated and anonymous".

About 5.30am on Wednesday, police arrested a man who was leaving the large property at Oruanui allegedly carrying a bag of methamphetamine or 'P' and $157,000 in cash.

Police discovered large amounts of methamphetamine, cash, chemicals and firearms following a search of sheds and an old bus on the property.

Detective Senior Sergeant Nigel Keall of Waikato CIB said an additional 21kg of precursor material found at the property would have produced another 4.5-6.5kg of the drug. Police expected to uncover more at the property.

Operation Sonny was set up to track down David John Harries, who has been on the run since December 2010, and the 14 month-investigation led police to the large-scale operation.

Searches in Waitomo and Cambridge were also carried out and P, cash and an unknown liquid was found at a Cambridge property. Harries, two other men and a woman were arrested during the searches.

Mr Keall said the bust was significantly bigger than the Newcastle Rd bust in Hamilton a few years ago and possibly the biggest operation uncovered in New Zealand to date.

"The link between methamphetamine and other drug offending and serious violence offences, intimidation, burglary and theft has been well documented and with a seizure of this size and apprehension of the associated people we would expect a significant downstream reduction on that type of offending on the Bay of Plenty and Waikato policing district.

"We are very buoyed by the success, however given the intelligence we had received, given the indication from our investigation prior to actually executing the search warrant we knew it was likely to be a significant find."

Two men, aged 43 and 56, appeared in the Taupo District Court charged with the manufacture and supply of P. A 50-year-old man appeared in the Hamilton District Court on three P charges and a 28-year-old woman arrested at a Waitomo property also appeared on drugs charges.

additional reporting APNZ