Drug kingpin Brownie Harding to be sentenced today

Police and ESR staff at the scene of a methamphetamine lab raid on Taipuha Road, south west of Whangarei in December 2014. Photo/ John Stone

The Northland ringleader of the operation that produced the largest amount of methamphetamine ever cooked in New Zealand will be sentenced this morning.

Brownie Harding, 38, pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland last June to six charges of possession of meth for supply, two of conspiracy to supply meth, one of possession for supply, one of supplying pseudoephedrine, and one of participating in an organised criminal group.

At least 9kg of meth with a street value of between $3.2 million and $4.5 million was cooked over 10 weeks in a property in Taipuha Rd at Waiotira, between Whangarei and Paparoa, between September and December 2014. It was the largest amount of meth cooked in New Zealand that police are aware of.

Police raided the property and arrested 14 people after watching drug cooking and distribution activities for seven months during their covert investigation dubbed Operation Easter.

Harding was scheduled to have been sentenced in September last year but he filed legal applications which had to be dealt with prior to his sentencing.

His son Evanda Harding was sentenced in September last year to nine years and six months after he pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of meth for supply and two of possession of pseudoephedrine for supply in relation to drug-making in the operation.

A jury found him guilty of participating in an organised criminal group and two charges of manufacturing meth.

Brownie Harding's former partner Casey Rewha was sentenced to 12 months' home detention in December after a jury found her guilty on one charge of participating in an organised criminal group.

Two cooks- Jayden Hura and Anthony Mangu- have already been sentenced to jail terms of 16 years and eight months and 15 years respectively for their part in the drug operation.
The maximum penalty for dealing methamphetamine is life imprisonment.

Others sentenced for their roles in the operation included Sharn Stanley Keogh, 27, who acted as a "taxi service" by dropping off people and supplies used in the manufacture of meth. He was jailed for more than eight years.

Brownie Harding will be sentenced by Justice Simon Moore in the High Court at Whangarei.