A cannabis grower's stash has gone up in smoke after they made an ill-advised call to the cops.
Just after 2am on Tuesday, police received a call from a resident reporting a theft in Mahora, Hastings. They had just seen a balaclava-clad man with a knife stealing plants from their Williams St property.
Police quickly located the suspect, who had stuffed something into a green waste bin.
Police looked in the bin and found a cannabis plant "the size of a big Christmas tree".
After taking the suspect back to the station they returned to question the informant, and found more cannabis, triggering a search warrant - finding "several other cannabis plants, buds and seeds inside the address, and several more plants in the backyard".
"To add to the informant's woes, they lost a second lot of cannabis after police confiscated the remaining plants, buds and seeds back to the station," police said in a statement.
Police responded by charging the informant with cultivating cannabis and possessing cannabis utensils.
The alleged thief, a 35-year-old man, was charged with aggravated burglary and will appear in court later this month.
"Enquiries are continuing, but the cannabis tree won't see Christmas," police said.
