Police division over controversial cannabis operation revealedPosted by On

Police scan the bush for cannabis plants from a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter. (File photo)

New Zealand Defence Force

Police scan the bush for cannabis plants from a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter. (File photo)

Senior police are divided over whether to run a controversial cannabis eradication operation nationwide, emails released under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveal.

Stuff revealed last year that top brass at Police National Headquarters had decided to slash the programme, which cost more than $700,000 a year for hundreds of hours of flight time for helicopters and planes to spot and destroy cannabis plants.

However, 12 months on, the operation was back up and running, with six police districts opting to take part, the other six continuing to manage cannabis eradication locally as needed.

In February, a helicopter was used to spray three cannabis plants grown by the residents of a Coromandel property for medicinal reasons as part of the operation.

READ MORE:
* Police to resume aerial cannabis operations a year after national operation was canned
* Group with suspected Mongrel Mob links arrested in Hawke’s Bay meth bust
* Internal blunder and division among police top brass behind failure to announce scrapping of cannabis operation

Stuff requested under the OIA any correspondence between the district commanders and Police National Headquarters over the proposal.

The emails from last year reveal that many district commanders felt the national operation was a poor use of resources and was a distraction from action against organised crime, guns…

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Police scan the bush for cannabis plants from a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter. (File photo)

New Zealand Defence Force

Police scan the bush for cannabis plants from a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter. (File photo)

Senior police are divided over whether to run a controversial cannabis eradication operation nationwide, emails released under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveal.

Stuff revealed last year that top brass at Police National Headquarters had decided to slash the programme, which cost more than $700,000 a year for hundreds of hours of flight time for helicopters and planes to spot and destroy cannabis plants.

However, 12 months on, the operation was back up and running, with six police districts opting to take part, the other six continuing to manage cannabis eradication locally as needed.

In February, a helicopter was used to spray three cannabis plants grown by the residents of a Coromandel property for medicinal reasons as part of the operation.

READ MORE:
* Police to resume aerial cannabis operations a year after national operation was canned
* Group with suspected Mongrel Mob links arrested in Hawke’s Bay meth bust
* Internal blunder and division among police top brass behind failure to announce scrapping of cannabis operation

Stuff requested under the OIA any correspondence between the district commanders and Police National Headquarters over the proposal.

The emails from last year reveal that many district commanders felt the national operation was a poor use of resources and was a distraction from action against organised crime, guns…



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