Police say they will not let drug dealers deal in peace after a Queenstown officer packing up a checkpoint unwittingly interrupted one in progress.
The officer following his nose and trusting his instincts led to an unexpected haul of drugs and cash being seized and an alleged drug deal in the process being interrupted.
On December 3, Sergeant Dylan Hannah-Jones was packing up after operating a checkpoint when said he spotted some "suspicious" looking vehicles down a gravel road.
Sgt Hannah-Jones and his team went to have a look, and his suspicions quickly proved correct when the cars hastily took off.
‘‘I was in the passenger seat of our patrol vehicle, so I decided to jump out to stay with the remaining car.
"I instructed my colleague to pull over the departing vehicle up the road as quickly as they could, which they managed to do after only about 20 metres.’’
‘‘He was extremely uncooperative and was warned of arrest.’’
A search was carried out and Sgt Hannah-Jones’ suspicions turned out to be correct once again.
Close to $10,000 in cash was located, along with magic mushrooms and 255 grams of cannabis.
Police said the officers had interrupted a drug deal in progress.
‘‘The vehicle that initially tried to take off was the customer, who had purchased a small amount of cannabis, and I had the dealer." Sgt Hannah-Jones said.
The alleged dealer is facing a raft of drug-related charges and was also charged for failing to hand over his phone’s PIN number.
The customer was found to be a forbidden driver, so had their car impounded, and was handed summons to appear in Queenstown District Court at a later date.
