About 30 police staff from Counties Manukau and Waitemata police districts, Auckland CIB and Metro Crime and Operations Support seized 27kg of high-grade cannabis in a joint operation on Tuesday.

They arrested eight men aged between 27 and 65 on charges including possession, possession for supply and cultivation.

The quantity seized is thought to have a street value of $270,000. The operation followed two months’ investigations into organised criminal involvement in growing and distributing cannabis. Plants and dried leaf were seized from buildings and private addresses in Manukau, Te Atatu South, Waitakere, Henderson and Green Bay.