Following a call to police about 2am, two French men, aged 27 and 23, were arrested and charged with possession of cannabis for the purpose of supply, and possession of utensils.
Sergeant Steve Watt said a member of the public called police to report a vehicle in the resort "with a distinct smell of cannabis coming from it''.
"Community patrol managed to locate the vehicle on Earl St and subsequently called us to attend.
"The car certainly did smell of cannabis and a search was invoked.''
A total of 2.43kg of cannabis, in 1oz bags, was found in the vehicle.
It was estimated to have a street value of $50,000, Sgt Watt said.
"It was very unexpected - a seizure like that's not commonplace in Queenstown.
"It was a surprise for the officers to locate such a large quantity of cannabis.''
Sgt Watt said the men were "pretty clammy, to be fair''.
"They didn't say much and they were sweaty.''
Both were remanded in custody by a Queenstown District Court registrar yesterday. Their next appearance is set down for May 27.
