'We're coming to get you': A rural town tackling its meth problem

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A rural town in Central Hawke's Bay has one of the highest levels of meth in the country, and its community is trying to tackle the issue together.

With a population of just 5000, Waipukurau is a friendly and quiet town, but its reputation as a close knit, hard working community is tainted by meth.

In 2024, wastewater testing in the town found meth consumption had soared 333 percent in 12 months, to more than 4.8 grams per day, per thousand people.

Results have remained consistently high ever since, despite a covert police operation that ended in three people being arrested in December 2025 for supplying methamphetamine.

Waipukurau's wastewater ponds, where testing has revealed some of NZ's highest levels of methamphetamine.