Southern District Crime Manager Detective Inspector Shona Low said more than 30kg of cannabis, and $60,000 cash were seized and two Invercargill men arrested and charged.
The operation began at the Auckland International Mail Centre on 6 January 2025, when a package caught the attention of Customs officers, Det Insp Low said.
It was declared to contain dining plates, but an X-ray raised suspicions and testing revealed more than 2kg of MDMA had been pressed into plate shapes and coated with paint.
"The package was addressed to an Invercargill property, and the Southern District Organised Crime Group immediately got to work, gathering information and preparing a search warrant."
But the most significant discovery was evidence that showed a connection to another Southland address, she said.
"Given the quantities of MDMA intercepted at the border and clear signs of a wider drug operation, police quickly obtained a search warrant for the second property and prepared to search it that same day.
"At that address, police were met with an overwhelming smell of cannabis and found a sophisticated grow set-up, numerous plants, and more than 25kg of high-grade cannabis head, packaged and ready to be sold," Det Insp Low said.
"This is offending on a scale rarely seen in Southland and serious harm has been prevented, thanks to Customs and police working closely together and acting fast," Det Insp Low said.
"This wasn’t someone growing a cannabis plant for their own use. It was an organised, sophisticated drug operation designed to make a profit, without any concern for the people affected or damaged by it."
A 38-year-old man Invercargill man appeared in the Invercargill District Court on January 24, charged with supplying ecstasy and ketamine, cultivating cannabis, possession of cannabis for supply and possession of ecstasy for supply. He has been remanded in custody.
A 34-year-old Invercargill man appeared in the Invercargill District Court on January 28, charged with possession of ketamine and unlawfully possessing ammunition.
