Meth’s spread: howthewebhas grown

resulting in raids on homes that netted seven arrests.

Up to $1 million worth of the Class A drug was believed to have been imported into Nelson and Dunedin by an organised crime group, targeted in December.

Back in June, police seized about $1.2 million worth of meth found in a car in Murchison, in what was thought to be the biggest haul of the drug in the region to date.

As in that case, most of the drug, also known as ‘‘P’’, ‘‘crack’’, ‘‘rock’’ and ‘‘puff’’, seized in Nelson and Tasman district has been in the form of rock-like crystals, known as crystal meth.

Meth supply in the Nelson area is coming mainly from outside the region, from both national and international sources, according to police at Nelson HQ.

Supply and distribution is being driven by organised criminal groups, including gangs.

For police on the ground, the contrast with ten years ago in some communities is stark.

‘‘Every now and again you might find a P pipe, you might find a point bag .... now it’s not unusual to find multiple P bags full of P, gram bags, even recently ounce bags. And that’s not the stuff we’re investigating, it’s the stuff we’re literally stumbling across,’’ prevention sergeant in Motueka, Rob Crawford said.

Crawford moved to the region from Auckland about 18 years ago.

‘‘When I left South Auckland we were just seeing the rise of methamphetamine there, and when I got back to Motueka it was minimal.

‘‘Methamphetamine was not known here. It wasn’t probably until 2006, 2008, we saw a large increase in methamphetamine-related offending and family harm, and we identified certain methamphetamine dealers in Motueka, which we targeted. That was coming from the Head Hunters in Auckland.’’

‘‘A number of gangs now are very active in Nelson Bays generally, the Hells Angels have now got their own chapter in Nelson, the Mongrel Mob are prevalent, Head Hunters are prevalent, Rebels.’’

Sources say Nelson has proved attractive to ‘‘P’’ dealers, with meth able to fetch a higher price here than elsewhere in the country. Crawford was not quite so specific. ‘‘I think there was a hole in New Zealand in relation to gangs, it’s a good halfway point between Christchurch and the North Island. Blenheim and Nelson I think are seeing the same sort of issues and they are being populated by gang members. We know who they are and we are targeting them.’’

Extra police have been brought in to staff a new tactical unit, set up to target drug dealers in the region.

Once the drug has taken hold in the community however, the fingers of the illegal meth trade spread far and wide.

Meth had been proliferated in the area for the most part by addicts, who had to sell the drug in order to consume it, Crawford said.

‘‘You’ve got that person who’s no longer working because methamphetamine’s destroyed their work life, destroyed their family life; what else is left other than to actively try and distribute and sell this drug to other people?

‘‘And of course that produces more victims, it produces more addicts, and they have to sell it. It’s a web that just gets bigger and bigger and bigger,’’ Crawford said.

While ‘‘P’’ had become more affordable, it was still a ‘‘pricey’’ drug.

‘‘It wasn’t that long ago that a gram of methamphetamine was $1000 to $1200, that’s gone down to $600 or $700 now. 28 ounces of cannabis can go for about $250, $300.

‘‘We’re dealing with people undergoing serious mental health issues because of it, we’re dealing with families that are slowly disintegrating and trying to put support around them to keep them afloat.

‘‘We’ve got to hold the people to account who are selling, but also get the help for people under them, because those people will still have to find money to service their addiction. And that’s where it comes from a family’s rent money, a family’s food money, it comes from burglaries, from property that’s been stolen.’’

Reducing demand for meth was a major police focus, Tasman Police Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Paul Borrell said.

‘‘While our tactical staff are primarily focussed on bringing those who drive this harm to account, we also have a large resource addressing the need to prevent this type of offending and the social harm it causes in families and communities,’’ Borrell said.

Police were working with the district health board to address addiction issues, and provide support to those who wanted to get off drugs, he said.

‘‘There’s no way we’re going to be able to do this ourselves,’’ said Crawford.

‘‘The community here’s got to make sure that this is not acceptable.’’

He believed Nelson Bays was ‘‘to a saturation point for methamphetamine’’.

‘‘I’m hoping it’s a tipping point that we are actually at the top end of the selling and supplying. I don’t think we’re ever going to solve it and don’t think we’re ever going to be on top of it, what we need to do is we need to control it.’’