Court hears of night-time drug bust at bunker

A group of armed highly trained specialist police officers covertly searching a West Coast tourist venture wearing camouflage gear and night-vision goggles discovered a huge underground cannabis bunker, a court has heard.

One of the officers, Glen Collins, described climbing down a ladder accessed via a wooden hatch in a shipping container and finding rubbish bags and growing bays full of cannabis.

Details of the alleged cannabis growing operation emerged yesterday during the second day of a trial against Cowboy Paradise owner Michael Kevin Milne and associate Anthony Wayne Harris in the Greymouth District Court.

Collins said he was part of a group of five officers – a special tactics group, based in Christchurch – to covertly search the property near Hokitika,three times in July and August 2019 after police became aware of the possible drugs operation.

They were armed, as Milne was known to have a shooting range and firearms at the property.

While other officers kept a look out, Collins and his team leader went into a shipping container sitting on top of a large concrete pad on a small mound of dirt surrounded by dense bush, he told the jury. They found six black plastic rubbish bags full of partially rotten cannabis plants and at least 14 plastic containers of nutrients for hydroponic gardening.

They lifted a plywood trapdoor and climbed a ladder down to the empty space below, he said. He saw black bags overflowing with cannabis plant material at the bottom of the ladder. The bunker had 12 purposely built small growing rooms lined with foil on raised platforms containing plants up to 50cm high.

The trial continues.