Operation Campbell Sees Police Thwart Major Methamphetamine Distribution Network
Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Holmes, National Clan Lab Manager:
Police have arrested seven people and
seized a myriad of methamphetamine,
firearms, ammunition,
and tens of thousands of dollars in cash, after a
number
of search warrants were carried out across the country this
week.
The warrants were the conclusion of an
eight-month investigation, dubbed
Operation Campbell, run
by Police’s National Organised Crime Group (NOCG)
which
targeted a methamphetamine manufacturer, who had established
a
distribution network across New Zealand.
It’s
estimated a total of five kilograms of methamphetamine,
three firearms
and associated ammunition, and
approximately $100,000 cash and a number of
other items
of evidence were seized during the operation which saw
warrants
terminated across Northland, Auckland and
Christchurch.
Police commenced this operation on
Monday afternoon and subsequently executed
search
warrants overnight and on Tuesday morning.
As a
result, six men and one women, aged between 18-52, with
reported links
to the Head Hunter and King Cobra gangs,
were arrested across the last two
days.
They face a
total of 50 charges including manufacture and supply of the
Class
A controlled drug methamphetamine, unlawful
possession of a firearm, and
participates in an Organised
Criminal Group.
Those arrested will appear in
Kaitaia, Auckland and Christchurch District
Courts in the
coming days.
The investigation was headed up by
National Organised Crime Group’s
Clandestine Laboratory
Response Team and supported by local staff, and
uncovered
a significant drug dealing network centred in the Northland
and
Auckland regions.
Police are continuing to step
up enforcement and disruption of unlawful gang
activity
across the country as Operation Cobalt rolls out.
The
public will continue to see search warrants being conducted
and arrests
being made for identifiable
offences.
Our message to those involved is clear –
we have zero tolerance for any
violence, gang and drug
activities.
Methamphetamine devastates many vulnerable
communities while organised
criminal groups continue to
profit off this type of offending.
Police is
committed to targeting and dismantling the operations of
those who
seek to profit from this harm, and we are
confident this operation will
result in a major
disruption to the supply of methamphetamine in
these
regions.
These search warrants have
identified and dismantled a large commercial Clan
Lab
capable of producing multiple kilograms of methamphetamine
per cook
operating out of the Far North.
The
combination of drugs and firearms is always a potentially
lethal recipe
for harm and continues to be of grave
concern for Police and the communities
it
serves.
Police cannot rule out further arrests as the investigation is ongoing.
As the matter is now
before the courts, Police are not able to
comment
further.