DRUG DEALER STANDS TO LOSE HIS PRIME LAND

CONVICTED drug dealer and Waitara farmer Christopher Jury stands to lose
much of his prime Tikorangi land worth more than $1.3 million.

If the Crown's case is successful, it will be the first time in Taranaki
houses or farms are forfeited under the Proceeds of Crimes Act 1992.

The Crown has already put restraining orders on two of Jury's farms.

On Wednesday, Jury (56) was found guilty of cultivating and selling
cannabis. He and his wife, landscape gardener Daniella Krumm (37), were
also found guilty of money laundering.

Under the law, the assets can be seized according to the amount the accused
is alleged to have made through criminal acts such as drug dealing.

"The Crown can ask for property that is involved or tainted by criminal
offending to be forfeited or make an order for the benefits derived from
offending," Crown prosecutor Chris Wilkinson-Smith said yesterday.

The forensic accountant who investigated the case had determined Jury had
$750,000 which could not be attributed to legitimate farm income, Mr
Wilkinson-Smith said.

"This is the first time we are making this application in Taranaki," he said.

Jury is from a prominent Taranaki family. His deceased father Felix was a
world renowned rhododendron breeder.

Jury owns farms in the rich Tikorangi land east of Waitara. The prime
50-hectare farm on Otaraoa Rd was worth $1 million when valued in 1998,
while the Stockman Rd dry stock runoff, where more than 600 cannabis plants
were found, was worth $350,000.

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Copyright Taranaki Newspapers Limited 2002, All rights reserved.

THE DAILY NEWS - NEWS - 9 MAR 2002 - Page 3

Govt moving to confiscate farms over drug conviction

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Farm prices are at an all-time high with one 60ha farm in the area recently
selling for $1.8 million.

Yesterday, Mr Wilkinson-Smith said the High Court civil application process
to claim Jury's assets could take weeks or months to complete.

As at January this year, police had issued restraining orders on $7.5
million worth of criminals' property in the past two years, but only
$730,000 had been confiscated. All proceeds go into the Government's
consolidated funds.

Jury has a long history of drug offences.

Sentencing in April will mark the fourth time Jury faces sentence for
growing cannabis in North Taranaki.

* In 1971, he spent six months in prison and was fined $1500 when 163
plants were found at his home.

* In 1976, he was again convicted of cultivating cannabis at Tikorangi when
about 140 plants were found growing in rows within a high enclosure on the
back of his father's farm.

* In 1979, Jury was sentenced to two years' jail when convicted of
cultivating cannabis and possessing plant for supply.

Police caught Jury after mounting a surveillance operation following the
discovery of a plot at the Tongaporutu River mouth which could only be
reached at low tide.

Justice Mahon said then because of Jury's good community service and
because he was a good horticulturist he would sentence him to only two years.

CAPTION:

FARM FORFEIT: Christopher Jury's Otaraoa Rd property may be taken by the Crown.