Khalid Naser Slaimankhel (30) appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday accused of participating in an organised criminal group after police searched his Royal Tce home on Wednesday.
The defendant was also charged with 11 counts of possessing methamphetamine for supply, one of supplying the class-A drug, one of money laundering and another of suppressing evidence to help another man avoid arrest - all acts allegedly happened in Auckland.
Slaimankhel entered no pleas to the charges, the most serious of which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The case was transferred to the Auckland District Court where the defendant is scheduled to appear today on these and other charges.
The co-ordinated raids around the country yesterday netted police a range of high-end vehicles and a huge haul of cash.
Police said more than 150 officers were involved in executing search warrants across 17 residential and commercial properties, the culmination of Operation Maddale, a long-running investigation into the supply and distribution of methamphetamine and associated money laundering.
Detective Greg Cramer said the defendant was the only Dunedin man arrested yesterday through the operation but the detective did not rule out further arrests.
Over its 10-month course, Operation Maddale has resulted in the seizure of 20kg of methamphetamine, worth more than $12million.
The assets seized included a Porsche Macan, Jeep Wrangler, three Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a Ford Ranger, a Yamaha motorcycle, a jet ski and a necklace worth more than $70,000, along with $550,000 of cash.
Raids also took place in Christchurch and in the Auckland suburbs of New Lynn, Blockhouse Bay, Avondale, Manukau, Mt Eden, Grey Lynn, Karaka, Greenlane, Manurewa and Northcote.
Ten people between the ages of 21 and 42 faced more than 70 charges, police confirmed.
