Ashburton police have taken a “significant quantity” of drugs off local streets following an operation targeting illegal drugs in town.

Two men have been arrested and $200,000 in cash, a significant stash of firearms and cannabis were seized as a result of the sting.

A 55-year-old man will appear in court next week charged with cultivating cannabis, conspiring to deal with cannabis and selling or supplying a firearm to a non-licence holder, while another man, 59, has been charged with supplying cannabis, cultivating cannabis, possession of cannabis for supply and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Those charges could be followed by more, Detective Senior Sergeant Leigh Jenkins said in a statement. “The investigation into this offending is ongoing.”

The seize included 14 different firearms, 844 cannabis plants and 12.3kg of cannabis head, as well as a substantial amount of equipment used for cannabis cultivation.

The bust comes almost two years after Ashburton’s biggest drug raid in the past decade where the three- day operation involved 29 search warrants and resulted in 18 arrests and over 160 charges.