HOUSE HELD $2M WORTH OF CANNABIS

A beneficiary has admitted growing what is believed to be the Bay of
Plenty's biggest cannabis crop in six months with a sophisticated
indoor operation potentially worth $2 million.

But the Tauranga man's conviction is unlikely to dent the region's
thriving multimillion-dollar cannabis industry as police plough their
limited resources into fighting the escalating ``P'' epidemic.

The latest police success in the fight against cannabis in the Bay
came yesterday when Wally Wahapeka Hati, 38, pleaded guilty in
Tauranga District Court to one charge of cultivating cannabis.

According to the police summary of facts, Hati had run the
``sophisticated, well-equipped and well-nurtured'' operation from
three bedrooms, which he had partitioned off in his home.

When police searched Hati's home in mid-October, they found more than
150 cannabis plants more than a metre high and in excess of 380 seedlings.

To help in growing the illegal crop and ensure secrecy, Hati had
sealed off the bedroom windows with blankets and polythene and
installed a number of 1000 watt lamps in each room to nurture his seed
beds and plants.

Hati and his 15-year-old daughter had slept on two double beds
installed in the lounge while the rest of his dwelling was given over
to cultivating cannabis.

The indoor operation could produce four yields a year, with each
seedling selling for $20 and fully grown plants yielding between $200
and $500.

Police estimated Hati's potential yearly income from his crop would
have been just over $2 million.

Judge Christopher Harding said the only option for Hati was prison
because of the value of his crop and because his house was dedicated
to growing the illegal drug.

Defence counsel Matthew Goodwin asked that Hati be freed on bail until
his sentencing so he could make arrangement for the care of his
daughter before going to jail.

Judge Harding refused this request, saying he was not convinced bail
was in the best interests of justice.

Hati will be sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua on February
12.

Despite the size and sophistication of Hati's operation, police said
today the Bay's cannabis market continued to thrive despite his arrest
and conviction.

Mount Maunganui Detective Sergeant Mel Ridley told the Bay of Plenty Times:
``There will be a hundred people willing to step in and take his place.''

The Bay and Northland were the country's biggest cannabis
producers.

Nationally, there was evidence of a thriving black-market economy
worth tens of millions of dollars.

Although ``P'' had come to the fore in recent years, cannabis was
still a major problem in the Bay, Mr Ridley said.

Police now struggled more in their fight against cannabis because drug
funds were increasingly being used to catch those involved in the
capture and conviction of ``P'' suppliers.

The trend with cannabis over the last five years was for growers to
move their operations inside, allowing them to concentrate the potency
of tetrahydrocannabinol the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana,
Mr Ridley said.