DRUGS COURIER STEALS POLICE EVIDENCE

Two drug dealers walked free and another escaped serious charges after a
CourierPost driver stole crucial evidence that had been mailed from
regional police stations.

Details of the case were suppressed while police tried to stop the Herald
from publishing - a battle they lost in the High Court yesterday.

Now it can be revealed that the thefts forced Mangakino police to drop
charges against a drug manufacturer facing up to 14 years' jail, and that
other suspects in Northland and the Bay of Plenty also escaped charges.

The courier driver, Gelan Hone Wiremu Mokene Wharepapa, was given three
months' periodic detention and nine months' supervision on May 5 after
pleading guilty in the Auckland District Court to four charges of theft.

The 18-year-old admitted that between September 29 and December 1 he smoked
cannabis that police had mailed to forensic experts at the Institute of
Environmental Science and Research in Auckland. Each time, he threw away
most of the drugs, including cannabis, morphine sulphate and methamphetamine.

Police told the Herald that a suspected dealer in Opotiki facing up to a
year in prison and a Mangakino drug manufacturer both walked free, and that
detectives were forced to drop at least one class A or B drug charge
against a Whangarei man.

A fourth suspect, in Kawakawa, is believed to have pleaded guilty before he
found out the evidence against him had been stolen.

Mangakino Constable Craig Cartwright said: "If we don't have those
exhibits, we can't prove it was cannabis oil. The accused could stand up in
court and say it was Marmite."

Superintendent Dave Walter said from Wellington that police had sent
evidence by registered post for 30 years without problems. Exhibits were
packaged in special containers so police could tell if they had been
tampered with. There were no plans to change the system.

A spokesman for CourierPost, Simon Taylor, said an immediate investigation
was launched after police complained about the thefts, and security had
been improved.

"These instances are very rare and we are concerned when our staff come
under such scrutiny. We do background checks on all our staff."

Police asked on May 5 for details of the case to be kept secret. They
argued that revealing their method of sending drugs could spark attacks on
courier drivers.

The Herald argued that police failed to say how many people already knew
about the courier method, how much extra risk there would be if more people
read about it, and why that risk should outweigh free speech.