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From the outside it appeared to be a normal suburban bungalow, with well-kept lawns and rose bushes in the garden behind a thick hedge.
But when armed police raided him early Thursday morning, they found a sophisticated cannabis factory inside, with hundreds of plants being grown in bedrooms and outside buildings.
In a pre-planned operation, officers carried out a routine search warrant on the property on Marshland Rd in Ouruhia on the outskirts of Christchurch at around 8.15am.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Inside one of the sheds on the Christchurch property.
Inside, they discovered a comprehensive cannabis operation, with heat lamps and ventilation systems set up to help grow around 200 plants.
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The drugs were found in three areas of the property, including two sheds.
In one, cannabis was grown in a tent, while in another there were lights, fans and dozens of mature plants.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
One of the bedrooms had been converted into a grow room.
Two bedrooms had been converted for use in the operation, plants growing in various stages in one and hung on racks to dry in the other.
The cannabis seedlings were being grown in a hall closet, while what appeared to be fertilizer was in various containers in the bathroom.
No one has been arrested yet, a police spokeswoman said.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
What appeared to be containers of fertilizer were stored in the bathroom.
The landlord of the property said it was being rented and was not aware of the police search when contacted by Stuff.
The raid came days after it emerged that police had quietly shelved their annual cannabis eradication operation in a major policy shift that caught front-line personnel and the police minister by surprise.
For more than 20 years, officers have soared through the skies with the New Zealand Defense Force as part of a national operation to find cannabis plots in the interior.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
A second bedroom had cannabis drying on racks.
However, senior commanders at the National Police Headquarters, which provides more than $ 700,000 a year to finance hundreds of flight hours for helicopters and planes used in the operation, have decided to eliminate it.
One of the reasons for suspending the operation was the lack of appetite of the leaders of the 12 police districts, despite the fact that tens of thousands of plants are captured each year.
Police also previously said the operation also helped prevent hundreds of millions of dollars worth of socioeconomic damage.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Cannabis was also growing inside the shed tents.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
In the address up to 200 plants were found, in various stages of growth.
