Woman who used rental as 'large-scale' meth lab ordered to pay landlord $100k

A woman who used her rental as a "large-scale" meth lab and was jailed for her offending has been ordered to pay her former landlord $100,000.

In its decision on who should pay for the Auckland property's decontamination, the Tenancy Tribunal said the levels of methamphetamine recorded were the highest it had seen.

Han Jiang moved into the Murphys Road house in Totara Park in March 2024.

The property was raided by police in late May of that year, discovering a "large-scale" clandestine laboratory with equipment, materials, and ingredients used to manufacture meth on the kitchen bench.

Officers found hot plates, air stills, glass jars, measuring jugs, funnels, disposable gloves, breathing apparatus, fry pans, tubing, syringes and glassware.

Liquids in 20-litre containers, 20-litre containers of toluene, large amounts of caustic soda, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. methamphetamine crystals and $124,835 in cash were also found.

Jiang and Jiehong Ru, another occupant at the property, pleaded guilty to methamphetamine manufacture and were each jailed for three years.

Days after the raid, the landlord had the house tested for meth contamination. In one room, the level of meth recorded was 3360 micrograms per 100cm2.

The landlord, the person who conducted the test, and the Tribunal said these were the highest levels of meth they had ever seen.

If manufacturing in a property is suspected, contamination levels must be lowered to 1.5μg/100sq cm.

A number of rounds of remediation of the property were carried out, but despite the extensive and costly repair and decontamination work, the landlord found it difficult to find new tenants.

"Potential tenants were put off by the fact that it had been used for methamphetamine manufacture, had been subject to contamination and was the scene of criminal offending," the Tribunal said.

New tenants were eventually found in January 2024, until the property was placed on the market for sale.

"There was very little interest in the property, which the landlord attributes to its stigma of being a ‘meth house’."

The property was back up for rent in November 2025 and is now relet.

The landlord took the case to the Tenancy Tribunal, claiming a loss of $163,374.55 for testing costs, decontamination costs, damage from the police raid, repairs, lost rent and power bills.

In its decision, the Tribunal accepted that the contamination was on the "extreme end of the scale".

"Based on the evidence available, we accept that it has either entirely or materially arisen from manufacture by these tenants.

"As a direct result of the contamination, the landlord has incurred costs to decontaminate the premises, which included multiple episodes of testing and cleaning."

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While arrangements were made for Jiang to attend the hearing via audio-video link, she did not appear.

The Tribunal ordered Jiang to pay the landlord $100,000, as it can only make orders up to that sum. The landlord accepted the ordered sum.