Two men change pleas to multiple cannabis charges

Two men have pleaded guilty to multiple cannabis charges a day before they were to face trial in the High Court at Invercargill.

David Christopher James Payne (45), accountant, of Invercargill, and Maxwell John Mains (58), of Central Otago, had denied charges laid as a result of the Operation Canary police investigation into wide scale cannabis cultivation and dealing.

A jury trial was to have begun in Invercargill on Tuesday, but on Monday the men appeared before Justice Cameron Mander and changed their pleas.

Payne admitted five charges of cultivating cannabis and one of possessing cannabis for sale, while Mains pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing cannabis for sale and two charges of selling cannabis.

A further six charges against Payne were dismissed, as were four charges against Mains.

They were remanded for sentencing in Invercargill on November 5.

No summary of facts was read in court.

Five men were initially arrested in June 2012, after police simultaneously raided properties in Invercargill, Queenstown and surrounds, Glenorchy, and Northern Southland. Several more arrests followed.

At the time of the initial arrests Southern police said they believed they had delivered a serious blow to a multimillion dollar cannabis syndicate which could have been operating throughout Otago and Southland for 20 years.

They estimated the syndicate had grown more than 1000 cannabis plants during the four years Operation Canary operated, mostly in fringes of bush in remote areas of Western Southland.

The potential yield of those plants was 181kg and the estimated street value $4.5 million.

Several of those arrested have already been sentenced to prison terms. Another will be sentenced in Invercargill next week.

Invercargill Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas said charges against another three men were still being dealt with.

 

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