DRUG SELLERS TARGETED TEENAGERS, JURY TOLD

A drug group which ran a string of cannabis-dealing "tinny houses" in
central Christchurch operated in a way which targeted teenagers as
well as adult cannabis smokers, a Christchurch District Court jury
has been told.

Prosecutor Karyn South said that as well as selling $20
tinfoil-wrapped deals of cannabis (tinnies) the drug houses also
stocked single joints of cannabis for $5.

"The prosecution says that was to capture the young market who
couldn't afford to buy a tinny for $20," she said. "You will also see
videos of people who are quite clearly under the age of 18 who were
buying cannabis from these tinny houses without any problem
whatsoever."

Covert police surveillance of one of the fortified tinny houses
showed "hundreds" of visitors in a day.

Each stayed a few minutes, and some could be seen carrying tinnies, she said.

The police operation to catch the group was dubbed Operation Rat, a
play on the Pied Piper of Hamelin fable because the leader of the
drug network was Colin David Piper. The jury was told Piper and
others had been convicted over their involvement in the network.

On trial are Stephen Gregory Broun, 35, unemployed, of Christchurch
(represented by Raoul Neave); Stephen Robert Read, 29, a sickness
beneficiary, of Christchurch (David Bunce); Rae Hoogweg, 21, a
porter, of Christchurch (Jeff McCall); and Benjamin Douglas Anderson,
21, a sickness beneficiary of no fixed abode (Mr McCall). All four
deny conspiring with Piper and others to sell cannabis to people aged
over and under 18 years.

Anderson also denies representative charges of actually selling drugs
to people under and over that age. The prosecution claims that of the
four only Anderson was a "shopkeeper" who either sold cannabis or
assisted his girlfriend in doing so.

Covert surveillance allegedly showed one shop closing because it ran
out of stock, Anderson leaving in his car and arriving back carrying
a bag, after which the house reopened for business.

At the time of the offending, Broun was a taxi driver and allegedly
used his cab to ferry drugs from his "safe house" to the tinny house
network and to visit a drug-growing house in Otira. Hoogweg travelled
with him and had arranged the tenancy of the Otira house, Ms South
claimed.

The court was told Read had pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivating
cannabis at the Otira house, but denied the conspiracy charge.

The trial is expected to last a fortnight.