BOY (12) DRUG SUPPLIER SNARED

Queenstown: A 12-year-old drug supplier, more than $4 million of cannabis
and several firearms - including military-style semi-automatics - were
discovered during a recent police drug crackdown in Otago and Southland.

An air force Iroquois helicopter and crew, and about eight police officers,
spent 30 hours in the air last month targeting cannabis plantations being
grown for supply.

Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wood, of Queenstown, said yesterday police
were shocked to discover a 12-year-old Queenstown boy was being supplied
with cannabis which he had, in turn, supplied to his friends.

"The trend certainly is that they are getting younger and younger but that
is a bit of a rarity. Well, we hope it's a bit of a rarity. We're very
concerned about it, obviously," Det Snr Sgt Wood said.

The youngster has been referred to police youth aid.

The police operation netted 4082 cannabis plants, with an estimated street
value of $4 million, in the region south of the Waitaki River.

Eleven firearms, including a sawn-off shotgun and two military-style
semi-automatics, were recovered, mostly from the Oamaru area. Also found
were 260 poppy plants in North Otago and about 3000 cannabis seeds across
the region.

While a complete breakdown of where the plants were found and the arrest
figures was unavailable yesterday, Det Snr Sgt Wood confirmed about 1000
plants, with an estimated street value of $1 million, were located in 54
sites in the Wakatipu area.

Cannabis plots were discovered in the Glenorchy area, including the Caples
and Greenstone Valleys, and on Mount Alfred, around Lakes Hayes and near
Wye Creek.

A larger number of plants were recovered from the Queenstown and Fiordland
regions, compared with other areas.

While it was difficult to tell if figures were higher than previous years,
"it was more than we had hoped".

Finding 4000 plants was significant and would certainly hurt the growers,
Det Snr Sgt Wood said.

"We can't judge how much is out there - it could be the same again -
because the area is so vast. Unfortunately, we can't cover it all."

The intention was to focus on those growers who were dealing and put
pressure on them, he said.

"It's only a matter of time before they're caught because they're so
greedy. They're doing it for the money and they won't stop until they get
caught."

More aerial operations were planned in the region.