Police intercepted more than 110,000 phone and text messages
between the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gang members during a
major three-month drug operation in South Auckland and the
Waikato.
The astonishing extent of police monitoring of gang
communications was outlined in the High Court at Auckland
where patched Killer Beez gangster, 22-year-old father of
one, Eric Paki-Edwards appeared for sentence.
He had admitted one representative charge of supplying
methamphetamine and was sentenced to two years and eight
months imprisonment.
Paki-Edwards was one of around 30 people arrested following a
police bugging operation, code-named Leo, that started in
late 2007
Justice Rodney Hansen said the operation involved both phone
and text monitoring.
"Over a three-month period, over 110,000 communications from
the phones of members or associates of the Tribesmen and
Killer Beez were intercepted.
"Thousands of these communications were found to relate to
criminal activities, including drug dealing."
The judge said that the prosecution claimed that of the
11,440 communications involving Paki-Edwards, 1235 were
drug-related.
Following a disputed facts hearing, Justice Hansen said he
concluded that Paki-Edwards had been involved in supplying
20-30 grams of methamphetamine.
The Crown had maintained it was at least twice that amount.
Defence counsel Maria Pecotic said that there had been around
30 transactions, while Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood, said
it was considerably more.
Justice Hansen said he did not need to arrive at a final
figure for sentencing purposes.
He said Paki-Edwards was at the lowest level of the
distribution chain "but regularly supplied small quantities
of methamphetamine to a small but select group of customers."
Paki-Edwards, who spent his childhood either with his
alcoholic father or methamphetamine addict mother, told
probation officers he sold drugs to provide for his young
family.
Having seen his parents selling drugs for a living he
"regarded it as acceptable," the judge said.
While on bail, Paki-Edwards had obtained a forklift
operator's qualification and had received references which
the judge said were "impressive indeed".
"It is obvious to me that you are a man of considerable
ability and potential," he told Paki-Edwards.
The judge said Paki-Edwards was motivated to change.
Taking a starting point of four years, the judge gave a
one-third discount to reflect Paki-Edwards' guilty plea and
as an incentive to continue his efforts to turn his life
around.
Outstanding fines were cancelled so that he could come out of
prison with a clean slate.
A number of others have already been sentenced.
