Raids have been carried out across Christchurch in the past two days looking for people wanted by police.
Senior Sergeant Roy Appley said police had seized 70 cannabis plants, four stolen vehicles, $3000 cash and a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia as part of Operation Prodigy on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They visited 500 people or places of interest, arrested 50 people and investigated a stolen car ring and stolen bike ring.
Police stopped 141 vehicles, some of which were driven by people wanted for traffic or driver licence offences.
The operation saw police target about 1000 people who either have warrants out for their arrest or who they wanted to interview in connection with crimes.
Police aimed to visit 168 people with warrants for their arrest from court, about 400 people wanted for interview in relation to mainly dishonesty offences and others who needed their driver licences suspended or court summons served.
The Star travelled with police on two search warrants on Tuesday. One related to alleged stolen vehicles, which were then potentially being modified and sold.
Detective Sergeant Jeremy Gunn said at the scene: "We have a car which is reported stolen, so we're just trying to ascertain whether this is actually a stolen vehicle."
The other warrant saw police investigate the alleged growing of cannabis at a Hornby property.
Senior Sergeant Appley said Operation Prodigy took place because too many people are wanted in relation to crimes at the moment.
Said Senior Sergeant Appley: "That's the number that we have currently and that's too high.
"We need to be better at holding those people to account quicker," he said.
Those wanted in relation to burglaries and driving offences were the most common people police visited during Operation Prodigy.
Said Senior Sergeant Appley: "Burglary is always a concern to us in Canterbury.
"Burglary is wide-ranging in the scope now because it also includes a car being broken into in a driveway of an address, or some property that's not specifically secured at an address being stolen. It's not just a house break [in] or a commercial premises break [in]," he said.
Senior Sergeant Appley said people of interest can often be hard to find and the Covid-19 pandemic made this even more difficult.
"For various reasons, they can be difficult to find, and so because of that and other demands for Covid, it's taken a lot of our resourcing to other things and things like Covid happen from time to time, and we have to commit resources to different areas.
"While these people are not held to account, then potentially they could be reoffending when, in a normal course of events, they wouldn't be because they'd have some sanction from the court on them," he said.
Senior Sergeant Appley said Operation Prodigy had three overall goals; making communities, roads and homes safer.
