Wellington drug lab raided

Wellington Police executed a search warrant on an inner-city commercial premises yesterday which they believe was a major drug-manufacturing site.

The scene has been secured and specialist Police Clan Lab staff along with ESR scientists have begun to examine and process the scene which is expected to take several days.

Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch says "This is a full-scale commercial operation.

"The lab includes powder, pills, chemicals and equipment including a pill press which Police believe has been used to manufacture ecstasy.

“Always of concern is the dangerous and volatile chemicals that are used.

"The chemicals present a very real threat to the wellbeing of our community.

"We believe it was set up to distribute thousands of pills at upcoming music festivals over the New Year period.

"The harm these drugs cause has a significant impact on our health services and can rip families apart.

“We are determined to take a zero-tolerance approach to drug manufacturers and suppliers and use all our available resources to hold them to account”, says Detective Senior Sergeant Leitch.

Three 22-year-old men from the Hutt Valley and Wellington will appear in the Wellington District Court today on serious drug charges.

ENDS

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Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

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• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

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• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
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