SUPER-STRENGTH CLONED CANNABIS PLANTS FOUND

A Canterbury drug raid that netted up to $2.5 million worth of
cannabis in three days has uncovered super-strength cloned plants.

Police say some of the 2500 marijuana plants found during this week's
Operation Kristy in North Canterbury are likely to have been grown by
methamphetamine addicts to fund their addiction to harder drugs.

The operation followed a cannabis raid in the Nelson Bays policing
district this month that netted almost 6000 plants, 15 firearms and
$10,000 worth of stolen property.

At least 16 people will face charges as a result of the finds, which
include morphine, hashish and BZP.

However, police say more prosecutions are likely.

In January, Operation Marvel became the West Coast's largest drug
bust when police uncovered an allegedly multimillion-dollar cannabis
ring. Seventeen people were arrested in the course of the operation
and charged with drug offences, but no pleas have yet been entered.

The co-ordinator of Operation Kristy in North Canterbury, Detective
Sergeant Chris Roberts, said the number of plants showed there was no
slowdown in outdoor cannabis cultivation, despite a perceived trend
towards indoor growth.

The number of plants recovered was similar to the number found in
previous operations, he said.

However, their quality and potential street value had changed.

"The size and nature of many of the plants recovered indicates an
increase in the degree of sophistication through the use of cloned
plants producing a consistently high-grade and volume of cannabis
head," Roberts said.

"Commercial cannabis cultivation has been a recognised crime problem
for many years and is obviously far from being eradicated."

Cloning plants involves taking selective cuttings from the most
productive specimens to ensure a high-quality crop.

Roberts said some methamphetamine users were involved in cannabis
cultivation. Police had identified several major cannabis growers and
dealers using the sale of the drug to support their methamphetamine
addictions, he said.

Most of the plants recovered from North Canterbury were just about
ready to be harvested and worth about $1000 each, Roberts said.

"In such a short operation, this is a large quantity to recover."

Many of the plants had large "heads", which contained the most potent
concentration of the drug, and sold for up to $12,000 a kilogram, Roberts said.

Some plants were more than two metres tall, he said.

Police did random cannabis-recovery operations such as this to send a
signal to growers that they still took cannabis very seriously, Roberts said.

The plants recovered in Operation Kristy came from about 60 plots,
many of which were commercial enterprises, Roberts said. Many plots
were in areas where the public would not normally visit, with some
concealed within heavy scrub in remote locations.

Operation Kristy was a co-ordinated effort across many police
districts and in North Canterbury involved more than a dozen officers
and an airforce helicopter.

Massey University drug expert Dr Chris Wilkins said cannabis
production had increased in sophistication in the past five years,
with growers cloning stronger plants.

Both amateur growers and organised criminals had access to technology
that increased the yield of crops.

"There is a growing market for high-potency cannabis."

Many cannabis growers used the drug themselves and would "barter"
crops for methamphetamine, Wilkins said.