Five people have been arrested on drugs charges after police raids of seven properties in the Otago Lakes area in the past few days.
Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis, of Queenstown, said two men and three women were arrested after the execution of search warrants at three properties in Queenstown, three in Alexandra and one in Wanaka on Wednesday and Thursday.
Aged between 21 and 46, they were facing a variety of charges including the supply of methamphetamine and the distribution of cannabis.
One of the men was arrested at a Birse St, Frankton, house on Wednesday after police found methamphetamine at the property. He was charged with the supply of methamphetamine and cannabis and remanded after appearing in the Queenstown District Court.
Det Snr Sgt Inglis said he was pleased with the results of the operation.
"It’s a focus of ours to try to keep methamphetamine out of the Otago Lakes area as much as we can.
"Drugs start a lot of other crime in the community as well, so we’re focusing on people who are dealing in drugs."
The raids had no connection to the arrest on Thursday of a transient man after his vehicle was stopped with road spikes near the Cromwell lookout, he said.
It is the third major drug bust Det Snr Sgt Inglis has overseen since transferring to Queenstown in September to lead the Otago-Lakes Central criminal investigation branch.
However, the arrests were not linked to three Central Otago people charged last month in relation to illicit drug offender.
A Cromwell man was arrested for importing an estimated $200,000 of MDMA, while two Clyde people were arrested in relation to the attempted importation of methamphetamine worth up to $14,000 as well as the cultivation and supply of cannabis.
