NARCOTIC INGREDIENTS IN PARK

Rotorua police yesterday sealed off a children's playground after chemicals
believed to be used to make methamphetamine (speed) were dumped by two men.

The pair, who were fleeing the police, dumped a bag in Kuirau Park early in
the morning, Detective Sergeant Dennis Murphy said.

"A police patrol stopped a vehicle and noticed there were some suspicious
items inside. At that stage the vehicle drove off at speed."

The car collided with another vehicle shortly after and crashed. The men
were chased by police on foot, and they dumped the bag in the park as they ran.

"Some of those chemicals shouldn't be in the same room together let alone
in the same bag," Mr Murphy said. "It's a pretty volatile mix."

Forensics scientists, police drug specialists and firefighters removed the
bag yesterday. Mr Murphy refused to say exactly what chemicals were involved.

"If they mix together they're likely to produce a poisonous toxic gas.
These guys have got their brains fried on meth and they take extreme and
unpredictable behaviour.

"These chemicals were dumped near a children's playground and could have
been a real problem for people in the area."

One man, aged 19, was arrested and will appear in the Rotorua District
Court today on charges of endangering the public and possession of
precursors to the manufacture of a class A drug. Police are still searching
for another man.