73 arrested, $1m in drugs seized

BUSTED: Hydroponically grown cannabis discovered in the raids.

NIPPED IN THE BUD: Young plants from a ssophisticated canabis growing operation shut down by the sting.

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Police have arrested 73 people and uncovered up to $1 million worth of drugs in a three-month operation targeting dealers in methamphetamine, ecstasy, lsd and cannabis.

Officers involved in Operation Viper raided addresses around Wellington in a week-long series of busts that police describe as hugely successful.

Amid the drugs, firearms and cash, they also found young children. The Dominion Post accompanied a raid on a warehouse in which a sandpit and jungle gym were set up for a toddler to play while her father is believed to have worked on his $220,000 drug crop.

The raids, which stretched from Wellington City to the Hutt Valley, Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, also uncovered weapons including two shotguns, a .22 with silencer and a stun gun.

"This will cause significant disruption amongst the drug community," said Detective Senior Sergeant Darrin Thomson.

The murder of Auckland policeman Don Wilkinson, shot while putting a surveillance device on a car at a suspected P lab, has highlighted the dangers police face in such work. But Mr Thomson said they were constantly aware of the risks.

"[Safety] is always at the forefront of our minds. A tragedy such as happened in Auckland reinforces that. It's not something that we ever take lightly."

Work on Operation Viper began in July and involved the specialist surveillance squad, detectives, uniformed officers and a lab team. Intelligence came from the public and from police informants.

Some dealers had hi-tech operations, with computer-controlled crops, home safes and complex electrical switchboards, allowing them to steal electricity to run lights, fans and heaters.

The value of the drugs seized was estimated at between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the cannabis yield. As well as large cannabis crops, there was a "significant amount" of methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Mr Thomson said the drugs would have caused huge amounts of misery, damaging the health of users and placing financial strain on them and their families in funding their habits. Many were dragged into crime to pay for their drugs.

"[These dealers] don't care what misery they're causing. They just want to make money."

The operation targeted big dealers. Fifteen of those arrested were known gang associates and some suspects were instantly recalled to prison. More than a dozen people are still being sought.

Mr Thomson said several first-time offenders had also been charged with drug dealing, and he was alarmed that they had not come to police notice before.

The number of children found during the raids was a grave concern, he said. Child, Youth and Family would be informed in each case.