$80,000 DRUG BUST - POLICE

Armed police busted a hydroponic cannabis-growing ring yesterday after
raiding four Hutt Valley properties and finding cannabis with a potential
value of $80,000, Wellington's organised crime unit said.

Detective Sergeant Gray Harrison said two people were arrested and a third
was being sought.

A property in Stokes Valley had three rooms full of cannabis plants, all
grown hydroponically, and another in Taita had recently been let for the
purpose of setting up another operation, Mr Harrison said.

In total, the raid netted about 70 plants ranging from seedlings to nearly
mature, as well as about a kilogram of dried cannabis. "It would have a
potential value of $80,000 if all the plants reached maturity," he said.

The raids followed several weeks of investigation into what Mr Harrison
called "an organised operation".

"The principals utilise people known as `caretakers' whose sole purpose is
to occupy the rental premises, to look after and keep an eye on the dope."

The operation was of a commercial nature and unfortunately this seemed to
be an emerging trend, he said.

The plants were being destroyed.