Cannabis price high as supply dries up

Getting hold of the green stuff just got a bit harder in New Zealand after police seized a mammoth $140 million worth of cannabis in the past year.

Figures released under the Official Information Act show police netted 7011kg of cannabis and seized 159,898 plants nationwide in the 12 months to March 31.

Selling at $20 a gram, that’s a street value of $140.2m.

The haul has led to a reduction in supply, and smokers say spooked sellers have tripled their prices.

‘‘People don’t want to sell it for fear of getting caught,’’ said one Hamilton man, who did not wish to be named.

‘‘It’s not particularly a lack of supply, but growers and sellers think police are only targeting them and they are scared to sell.’’

He knew of sellers netting up to $900 an ounce in the Auckland market.

‘‘It might be a lack of knowledge among rich kids – around the Waikato people just won’t pay that, you’re still paying $20.’’

But for that $20, he said, you were likely to get a lot less than a typical gram in a tinny.

‘‘You might be getting 25 per cent – considering harvest was a couple of months ago.’’

Detective Inspector Paul Berry, of the National Criminal Investigations Group, said yearround indoor growing operations were supplying the mainstream user market.

‘‘The significant amounts of cannabis seized by police have a reasonable effect on growers and suppliers. It may also have sporadic impacts on some local communities.’’

A six-month sting by police, codenamed ‘‘Operation Dee’’, resulted in the seizure and destruction of more than 130,000 cannabis plants and 92kg of dried cannabis nationwide.

It was the second-largest cannabis haul by police in the past nine years.

Police conducted 720 searches and made 573 arrests.

Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, with help from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, were used to spot and destroy cannabis crops during the cannabis-growing season.

Police also restrained more than $4m worth of assets purchased through the proceeds of drugs. Berry said cannabis was linked to the methamphetamine trade and it was common for drug houses to sell both types of drugs. Police searches often found stolen property or firearms.