POT BAY CANNABIS GROWERS, COPS URGE

Police are urging rural Bay people to form support networks to monitor
unusual activity this summer after 16,000 cannabis plants were destroyed
and 37 people arrested in a special drug operation.

Success in weeding out cultivation and distribution of dope depends largely
on public tip-offs.

People in rural communities are encouraged to form rural support networks
and share information about suspicious people or activity in their
particular area.

"A combined police and community approach to suspicious activity in rural
areas usually leads to better outcomes for all concerned," said Bay of
Plenty Police Operations Manager Inspector Ray Sutton.

Latest figures from the annual National Cannabis Crime Operation - which
ran between November 2004 and April this year - also reveal police seized
two firearms, discovered one methamphetamine laboratory and recovered three
stolen vehicles and a generator in the combined Western and Eastern Bay of
Plenty police areas.

Mr Sutton said figures were "slightly down" on the previous year, largely
owing to an accident involving a fixed wing spotting plane in the South
Island early this year. The operation was suspended for several weeks
because of it and started again without the plane.

Nationwide, there were 564 arrests made, about 108,000 plants destroyed, 46
firearms seized, an estimated $230,000 worth of stolen property recovered,
about 75kg of dried cannabis seized and destroyed and five methamphetamine
labs discovered.

Mr Sutton said police would keep close tabs on crime committed in rural
areas of the Bay but their success hinged on the quality of public information.

He encouraged farmers and anybody using remote areas of the region for
recreation, to report any "unusual activity" to the nearest police station
immediately.

"People should write down vehicle details, registration numbers and
descriptions of people who are in areas where their presence is unusual.

"Criminals will often visit an area before committing offences and this
information can be valuable if crimes are committed at some later time," he
said.

Mr Sutton said any person who stumbled upon a cannabis plantation should
note the precise location and advise the police.