One of the six people arrested last month during a Queenstown police drug operation appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday on charges of supply and administration of methamphetamine.
Stephen Ron van Engelen (34) was arrested in Auckland last month on five charges of supply and administration of the class A drug methamphetamine and amphetamine.
The Auckland District Court told the Otago Daily Times yesterday that Engelen had been remanded on bail until May 18 by judge Mark Perkins for a plea inquiry hearing.
He along with four others were arrested in the five-month police effort "Operation Moses" where police seized methamphetamine with an estimated street value of "tens of thousands" of dollars they said was destined for Queenstown streets.
Queenstown tattooists Richard Allen (31) and Adam Bamford (31), Queenstown resident Hayden Smith (31), a 26-year-old Queenstown female and Auckland's Fletcher Butler (34) were also arrested in relation to the operation.
Butler was arrested at the Auckland Sky City casino.
Police and a clandestine laboratory squad had been looking for him in relation to a meth lab in Mt Wellington.
Butler faces five charges of supply and administration of the class A drug methamphetamine and amphetamine and is also charged with the production of and conspiring to deal the class A drug.
He has been remanded in custody until May 11 for a bail application hearing.
Allen was granted a registrars adjournment last month and will appear at the Queenstown District Court next month, while Bamford was sentenced to supervision and community work by Judge Michael Turner.
Smith, who shared the same address as Bamford, will appear at the Queenstown District Court on Monday on charges of possession of cannabis and ecstasy.
A total of 20 Invercargill and Queenstown police were involved in operation Moses, with several being flown from Queenstown to help with Butler's and van Engelen's arrest.
Most of the charges relate to incidents which occurred between January 5 and April 12.
