Drug Siezures And Pursuit North-West Waikato

New Zealand Police National News Release
5:38pm 13 June 2008
http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release.html?id=4001

13 May 2008

Drugs, they're not just threatening lives in the big cities but in smaller rural communities as well, according to Waikato Police who dealt with a number of drug related incidents in the north Waikato over recent hours.

In the first incident Police discovered about $100,000 worth of methamphetamine in a car following a lengthy pursuit involving patrol cars and a helicopter which culminated on a rural road outside Mercer last night.

Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Nicholls of Waikato CIB said the Holden Commodore was stopped on Mercer Ferry Rd about 9pm.

"Police had been searching for it after it had sped off from a routine stop near Gordonton earlier in the evening," said Mr Nicholls.

Officers had attempted to pursue the vehicle but this was abandoned due to the excessive speed of the driver, estimated to have reached over 180km/h.

The Police Eagle Helicopter was brought down from Auckland to assist in searching for the car which was located near Meremere.

Road spikes were deployed and deflated both the Commodore's right hand tyres however the offender continued to drive on the rims of his wheels at about 80km/h before being brought to a stop.

Officers' suspicions of the driver's intentions increased when he refused to get out of his car and had to be forcibly removed.

The reason for his uncooperative behaviour became clear when a meth pipe was seen on the floor of the car.

"A search under Section 18 of the Misuse of Drugs Act was carried out and a container with about 100gms of pure methamphetamine, with a street value of about $100,000 was found inside.

"A large sum of cash was also found and the 37-year-old Auckland man was arrested, he appeared in the Hamilton District Court today on drugs charges and further charges are pending," said Mr Nicholls.

Officers had little time to congratulate themselves on their find however.

Looking for drugs, members of the Waikato Armed Offenders Squad supported detectives executing three search warrants in West Huntly this morning.

In all, four people were arrested with two facing charges of possession and cultivating of cannabis, producing cannabis oil and possession of utensils.

A stolen vehicle and laptop computer were also recovered.

Two people appeared in the Hamilton District Court today on charges relating to these events while the other pair are expected to appear next week.

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