{"id":430533,"date":"2026-05-16T12:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/430533\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:03:24","slug":"auckland-electricians-suspicions-spark-cannabis-bust-in-otahuhu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/430533\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland electrician’s suspicions spark cannabis bust in \u014ct\u0101huhu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Police<\/p>\n

\nPolice have found around 360 cannabis plants at a property in \u014ct\u0101huhu.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ NZ Police\n<\/p>\n

An Auckland electrician who noticed unusual wiring has helped police discover a large-scale cannabis grow house hidden in the heart of \u014ct\u0101huhu.<\/p>\n

Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Hayward, of Counties Manukau West CIB, said police received information on Wednesday afternoon about the possible illegal operation.<\/p>\n

“An electrician working in the area noticed unusual wiring coming from a warehouse on Queen Street,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Ventilation pipes were also seen, which gave the telltale signs that the warehouse was being used for illegal activity.<\/p>\n

“An unmistakable smell<\/a> was coming from the ventilation – it was a cannabis growing operation.”<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

\nA search warrant revealed about 360 cannabis plants hidden underneath 15 tents.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ NZ Police\n<\/p>\n

Police put a scene guard in place. A search warrant executed on Thursday revealed about 360 cannabis plants hidden underneath 15 tents.<\/p>\n

“No occupants were located inside at the time, but all of the plants have since been destroyed,” Hayward said.<\/p>\n

“We would like to acknowledge the man for acting on his senses and reporting the suspicious set up to us.”<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have found around 360 cannabis plants at a property in \u014ct\u0101huhu. Photo: Supplied \/ NZ Police An…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-430533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}