The police have taken down an alleged kingpin linked to a Vietnamese organised crime group after executing a huge police bust on Thursday morning.
After a nine-month-long investigation into money laundering in the North Island, more than 60 charges have been laid and millions of dollars worth of assets restrained.
The officer in charge of the Upper North Money Laundering Team, Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Dunhill, said the operation has dismantled a sophisticated drug dealing and money laundering operation across the North Island.
Operation Bush investigated a syndicate that was allegedly operating across the Northland, Waitematā, Auckland City, Counties Manukau and Waikato Police districts.
Det Snr Sgt Dunhill said 10 search warrants into the sale and supply of cannabis resulted in eight arrests and more than $6.5 million in assets restrained, including five properties and two vehicles with a combined value of $90,000.
He said police began terminating search warrants on Thursday morning, which included the arrest of the alleged kingpin of the operation, a 40-year-old man from Waitematā, who is believed to be linked to a Vietnamese organised crime group.
Seven other people, including some foreign nationals, have been arrested and charged in relation to serious offending spanning over a number of years.
Police also located several significant cannabis grows with 193 plants and approximately nine kilograms of packaged cannabis seized.
The ready-to-sell cannabis seized from just one of the addresses is estimated to be worth about $60,000.
In total, more than 60 charges have been filed relating to money laundering and the cultivation, supply, and selling of cannabis.
The eight people arrested on Thursday are due to appear in Whangārei, North Shore, Auckland and Waikato District Courts over the coming days.
Det Snr Sgt Dunhill said the police cannot rule out further charges and arrests as part of Operation Bush.
He said the police are working alongside Immigration New Zealand in relation to the foreign nationals involved in this investigation.
"This is a significant restraint of millions of dollars worth of property and vehicles, which has involved New Zealand Police staff from several workgroups, and highlights the ongoing work by Police to disrupt and dismantle this type of damaging offending in our country," Det Dunhill said.
"Drugs continue to be at the centre of a world of harm created in our communities and we have no tolerance for those who continue to accumulate assets and wealth through the sale of these illicit substances.
"We continue to encourage anyone with information about suspected money laundering and drug dealing in their community to contact 105, or Crime Stoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111."
