Bay drug ring leaders sent to jail

Two Tauranga men have been jailed for a total of almost 30 years between them for their leading roles in a multi-million P-manufacture and supply ring.

Two other men also received jail sentences for their lesser roles in the drug crime syndicate when sentencing took place in the High Court at Rotorua on Friday.

Another man from Tauranga and a mother of five received sentences of home detention.

The charges stem from a large-scale police surveillance operation dubbed Operation Safari carried out by police during 2010 targeting organised crime in the Bay of Plenty police district.

Police say the syndicate was extremely well-organised, with large-scale operations across the Bay of Plenty and stretching into the Waikato and Auckland.

Royce Duncan, 50, from Omanawa and his associate Wallace Bramley, 38, who was the P-cook in their drug business were jailed for 15 years and 14 years five months respectively after earlier pleading guilty to a raft of P-manufacture, dealing and related offences.

That includes the manufacture of almost $1 million worth of P on March 7, 2010, conspiring to supply substantial amounts of precursor substances and equipment, money laundering and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Duncan's jail sentence includes a concurrent sentence for conspiring with Tauranga associate Kennedy O'Connor Williams, 26, to recover a bucket containing $500,000 buried in Duncan's Omanawa property while it was under police guard after it was raided in September 2010.

As a result of his drug offending Duncan has also had to forfeit $2.4 million worth of assets to the Crown, including a lifestyle block, 50ft launch, and a fleet of cars under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act.

Former cop and real estate agent, Nigel Walker, 47, was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and 200 hours' community work after he was found guilty at his trial in November of one count of conspiring with Duncan to money launder some of his P-dealing proceeds.

The later charge relates to Walker offer of assistance to Duncan in relation to his $400,000 planned purchase of an industrial unit in Mount Maunganui's Aerodrome road in September 2010.

Tauranga mother of five Stacey Helen Clark aka Russell, 36, was sentenced to 9 months' home detention and 80 hours' community work after she was also found guilty of one count each of possession of 2.8kg of cannabis for supply and supplying electronic scales to Duncan.

The Crown sought of at least halve their sentences for the four jailed men but Justice Woodhouse said he agreed with the men's lawyers that their ultimate release was best left in the hands of the Parole Board.

Justice Woodhouse said despite the gravity of their offending, he was satisfied that minimum non-parole periods were not warranted after taking into account the prisoners' personal circumstances, expression of remorse, guilty pleas, and the rehabilitative steps already taken.

The judge also noted that none of the offenders had prior drug manufacture or dealing convictions.

After the sentencing, Bay of Plenty District police crime manager, Detective Inspector Tim Anderson said the six-month police operation that lead to the arrests resulted in 16 raids on properties in the region, 12 which involved Tauranga properties.

Police seized more than $200,000 in cash, $100,000 worth of silver and gold coins and bars, nine illegal firearms, 17 cars, five motorcycles including a Harley Davidson, a Haines Hunter power boat, a launch and properties in Omanawa and Otumoetai and large quantities of P.

All of these assets have been, or are subject to the civil forfeiture regime where "ill-gotten gains" are seized from offenders, he said.

Mr Anderson said the drug dealing activity of those arrested and charged was significant and covered the spectrum from street level, to high-end dealing and supply, with the estimated value of drugs distributed in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bay of Plenty police were committed to eradicating illicit drugs from towns and cities and bring offenders to justice, he said.

Also sentenced yesterday was Mount Maunganui man Dylan Corlett, 38, who was jailed for four years, five months on raft of drug offences, including conspiracy to manufacture P, supplying P and also engaging in the important task of helping wash a large container of the precursor Contac NT.

A 35-year-old man who has been granted name suppression for legal reasons was jailed for six years four months for a raft of charges, including conspiring to manufacture P and conspiring to supply a large quantity of GBL.

Two other Tauranga offenders Alexandra Hastie, 26, and Kennedy Williams had their sentencing hearings adjourned until September. Mr Anderson urged the public with information to help put drug dealers out business to ring their local police station or call Crimestoppers.