Operation Harbour

Student gets jail term for drug dealing (13 October 2006, Otago Daily Times)

A Dunedin university student has been sentenced to 20 months jail for selling half apound of cannabis, but his sentence has been deferred for two months to allow him to apply for home detention.

High Court Justice John Hanson said BMT (21) was not the first young man to come before the court as a result of a casual attitude to cannabis.

'If you had seen as many lives ruined by cannabis as I have, you would probably view it differently. But, then, youth always knows best," the judge said.

BMT has been in custody for three weeks, since pleading guilty to 12 drug-related charges, all arising from his dealings with an under-cover officer who posed as a student during "Operation Harbour".

The officer became friendly with BMT through attending the same lectures and frequenting the cafe where the defendant worked part-time.

On May 1, he went to the cafe for a meal and BMT sold him a cannabis "tinnie" for $20.

Between then and June 22, BMT sold him cannabis six more times in quantities ranging from another $20 tinnie to half a pound, which cost the officer $2560.

BMT also sold the officer 14 capsules of 2CI, a synthetic cross between LSD and ecstasy, and five capsules of 2CE, a synthetic form of mescaline. After the half pound sale, the defendant gave the offficer half a "trip" of LSD as a gift, offered to supply ecstasy tablets, and also to sell him an ounce of cannabis, which the officer declined.

Crown counsel Marie Grills said the half-pound cannabis sale and the persistence of BMT's offending made the matter serious enough to justify a sentence between two and two and a half years imprisonment.

But defence counsel Campbell savage emphasised the defendants's role was as an intermediary, rather than a principal, and the only financial gain was $160 from the half-pound sale.

While remarks in the pre-sentence report might look like the defendant was blaming the under-cover officer's persistence for the offending, Mr Savage said that was not the case. BMT accepted responsibility for his actions and knew he had a lot to do to redeem himself in the eyes of his family and the community.

The defendant was of above-average intelligence, was in his third year of a BA degree, was motivated to continue his studies, and would not be before the court again.

Taking into account BMT's early guilty plea, Justice Hansen sentenced him to 20 months jail for the sail of the half a pound of cannabis, with concurrent three-month terms on the remaining 11 charges of selling cannabis and class C drugs, possessing cannabis for supply, offering to supply ecstasy, and supplying LSD.

He granted BMT leave to apply for home detention and, given what he considered were exceptional circumstances, deferred the onset of the sentence for two months to allow the application to be made.

In the Dunedin District Court yesterday, another "Operation Harbour" drugs offender received a six-month prison term on three convictions for offering to sell cannabis.

SPF (30), an apiary worker, had admitted committing the offences on April 25 and 29 and May 2.

Reviewing the facts Judge John Macdonald said the first offence involved an actual sale - two ounces of cannabis for $600.

On April 29 SPF offered to sell half a pound of cannabis for $2400, and, on May 2, a further two ounces. However, no transaction proceeded in either case.

SPF insisted he was simply doing a friend a favour and said his action was not commercial, because he made no profit, the judge noted.

Counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner submitted the three offers to sell all resulted from text messages initiated by a man who was one of the main targets of "Operation Harbour". SPF knew the man who worked out at the same gym.

The defendant had positive family support and was highly motivated to change. He had altered his lifestyle and associates, and had stopped using cannabis, Miss Saunderson-Warner said.

Judge Macdonald, viewing the offending as commercial, said it must attract a prison sentence. The one sale followed an offer to sell. allowing for the fact no transaction proceeded after the two other offers, nine months would be the starting point, he said.

To reflect SPF's guilty plea and co-operation with the police, the judge gave a three-month reduction, making the total sentence six months jail.

Not previously convicted of a drugs offence, SPF has leave to apply for home detention.

Phone archive loss troubles police original article

Dunedin police have echoed the concerns of their colleagues elsewhere that ‘‘every major criminal investigation'' will be affected by telephone companies no longer storing phone data.

Dunedin area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said police used recordings of text messages and phone conversations as a major crime-fighting tool.

It was ‘‘unfortunate'' that was unlikely to continue unless legislation changed, Insp Campbell said.

New Zealanders send 640 million texts a month and, although those texts can be intercepted, archives can no longer be retrieved.

Vodafone stopped archiving about a year ago, and Telecom stopped more recently.

Insp Campbell said Operation Harbour, a large-scale undercover crackdown on the drug scene in Dunedin over two years, was the largest electronic operation using interception devices in Dunedin in at least 10 years.

Dozens of people under suspicion of drug dealing had their cellphones tapped and their text messages intercepted during the operation.

So far, the police operation has netted 69 offenders who have committed 400 offences.

They have been sentenced to a combined total of 42 years in prison.

Text messaging was a ‘‘big part' of Operation Harbour, Insp Campbell said.

Before police could tap a telephone, they required a warrant signed by a High Court judge.

They needed to lodge a detailed application with sufficient evidence to satisfy the judge that those whose conversations were to be intercepted were involved in criminal activity.

Once signed, the warrant was valid for 30 days, but it could be renewed.

Vodafone and Telecom have said the storage of text messages had become too expensive and time consuming.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor told NZPA the companies had a social responsibility to store cellphone records.