Trips ‘to vet, not for drugs’
A West Coast man accused of selling cannabis says he earned cash from gold sales and $250,000 in loans from his brother, while his weekly trips to Christchurch were to a vet for his sick dog.
Anthony Wayne Harris is on trial in the Greymouth District Court for selling cannabis allegedly cultivated in a bunker at Cowboy Paradise, owned by Michael Kevin Milne.
Milne is accused of growing enough plants to sell 136kg of cannabis bud worth $1 million each year between 2013 and 2019 - almost a tonne of the drug in total – in a “sophisticated cannabis-growing operation” in a concrete bunker twice the size of the average New Zealand house.
Milne, 68, and Harris, 77, were arrested in September 2019 after police raided the tourist business and seized about $5m of assets, including farmland, residential property, cash, vehicles, farm machinery and firearms.
Harris is charged with three counts of selling cannabis, two of possession of ammunition and two of possession of a restricted weapon.
Crown prosecutor Cameron Stuart alleged Harris made weekly trips to Christchurch and cellphone data showed he travelled on the same dates that Milne was recorded on a police secret camera coming out of the bunker with large black rubbish bags.
Yesterday, Christchurch veterinarian Stephen Heap gave evidence that Harris visited his clinic with a miniature schnauzer called Millie frequently between 2006 and 2019 for treatment and to pick up prescriptions for eye-drops, medication, shampoo and creams.
Heap provided specialist animal eye care that was not available on the West Coast.
He said Millie had two surgeries for cataracts and had ongoing skin issues, allergies, arthritis, musculoskeletal problems and dental issues.
“Millie had problems requiring life-long care. Tony was dedicated enough to stick with the treatment and he was fastidious about that,” Heap said.
After a question from the jury room, Heap said he could have couriered the medication to the West Coast.
A forensic accountant found Harris made 248 cash deposits totalling $460,000 into his bank over seven years.
An alluvial gold buyer gave evidence that Harris was paid cash for gold on a monthly basis from 2013 until his arrest in 2019. Another said she regularly paid Harris by cheques for gold, which she believed he had cashed.
Harris’ lawyer, Marcus Zintl, produced 23 receipts for gold sales but only seven had Harris’ name on them. The seven, from 2020, totalled $23,960 of gold sales.
David Harris said his brother was a gold miner, prospector and a retired furniture removal businessman who did not believe in banks. He said his brother had several gold mining claims and permits from 2015 to 2019.
He told the court he loaned his brother about $250,000 in cash and gold between 2008 and 2019.
Under cross-examination, he said almost $200,000 of that would have been paid in cash to a builder and not deposited into Harris’ bank account.
He said he knew his brother made regular trips to Christchurch to visit his girlfriend and look after his ex-wife, who had mental health issues.
He would also go to Christchurch to visit his two sons, who had drug addiction and mental health problems.
Milne faces three charges of cultivating cannabis, three charges of selling the drug, possession of cannabis for sale, and possessing equipment to cultivate cannabis.
Neither Milne nor Harris chose to give evidence directly. The trial will continue with closing addresses by prosecution and defence counsel on Monday.