UNDERCOVER COPS BUST SWITCHED ON GARDENER

Three undercover police officers posing as cannabis growers busted two
Whangarei retailers who sold them equipment used to manufacture the
illegal drug, a jury has heard.

Police subsequently charged the manager of Whangarei's Switched on
Gardener, Ian Robert Kerr, 51, and his partner and colleague Catherine
Anne Collins, 44, with offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

A three-day trial before a jury of nine men and three women started in
the Whangarei District Court yesterday.

The pair was arrested during a national operation targeting Switched
on Gardener, and similar stores, around the country.

Kerr is facing two charges of supplying material for the cultivation
of cannabis and two of supplying equipment for the cultivation of cannabis.

He allegedly supplied seed-raising mix, cloning equipment, grow lamps,
an electric fan, carbon filter, ducting, a timer and two bottles of
liquid fertiliser.

Collins is charged with one count of supplying material for the
cultivation of cannabis and one of supplying equipment for the
cultivation of cannabis.

She allegedly sold an electric fan, carbon filter, ducting, a timer
and two bottles of liquid fertiliser.

The couple was arrested as part of a two-year undercover police
operation, code-named Operation Lime, that started in 2008 and
targeted individuals and businesses allegedly selling equipment used
for growing cannabis.

In her opening to the jury, Crown prosecutor Alice Hyndman said three
undercover officers assumed the names Billy, Ronnie and Russ and
visited Switched on Gardener premises on different occasions using
covert recording devices.

Where necessary, they bought equipment used to manufacture cannabis
and recorded conversations they had with the couple.

The undercover officer known as "Billy" took the witness stand
yesterday and the recordings from his covert device played to the jury.

He first went to Switched on Gardener on January 29, 2009 and told
Kerr he had been given a cannabis growing kit but needed assistance in
setting it up.

Kerr allegedly gave him tips on male and female cannabis plants, value
of each plant and about lights, carbon filters, and the type of
equipment needed to grow the drugs.

Ms Hyndman said "Ronnie" also bought items for growing cannabis and
sought tips on its cultivation.

She said Russ bought $809 worth of goods from Collins and returned six
months later to buy a lamp.

The couple's Whangarei home was searched and police recovered growers'
handbook, pipes and papers for smoking cannabis.

Collins is represented by Roger Bowden, while Kerr is
self-represented.

During the operation, officers swooped on 35 businesses across New
Zealand - including all 16 branches of Switched on Gardener - alleging
employees sold drugs, cannabis plants and growing equipment to
undercover police.