A patched Black Power member has admitted to couriering more than $100,000 of methamphetamine to Dunedin on a domestic flight.
Bay of Plenty man William Johnathan Wiki (35) and a co-defendant had been under police surveillance for a few weeks before they got on a flight from Tauranga to Dunedin on September 9 last year.
The pair boarded the plane, checked in one piece of luggage each and transferred without incident in Christchurch.
However, when they arrived at Dunedin Airport at 10am, police were waiting.
The defendants were challenged by officers and Wiki ran.
He threw one bag he was holding onto the ground and another onto the roof of the terminal before being apprehended.
The luggage on the ground contained 5gm of the class-A drug and a glass pipe for smoking it, while the other case held 99gm.
P can sell for $1000 a gram on the street.
After the matter had been called several times before the Dunedin District Court, the Crown amended Wiki's charges to possessing methamphetamine for supply, conspiracy to supply it, offering to supply it and offering to supply cannabis.
He pleaded guilty last week.
Court documents show police got wind of Wiki's illegal activity more than a month before the airport incident.
On August 12, the Auckland High Court granted a surveillance warrant allowing police to intercept cell phone communications of his co-accused.
“It was learned that he was travelling to the South Island with the co-defendant . . . with a large quantity of methamphetamine to distribute to associates in the South Island,” a summary said.
The intercepted conversations showed “evidence of extensive drug dealing”, police said.
Between August 24 and September 2, Wiki offered to supply 38.26gm of the class-A substance.
And during the same period, he also agreed to sell 479gm of cannabis, worth $7200.
The most serious charges Wiki faces carry a potential penalty of life imprisonment.
He will be sentenced next month.
