Former cop Mike Blowers sentenced to five years in jail

Michael Blowers in the Whangarei High Court. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A former police detective who admitted to supplying drugs has been sentenced to almost five years in prison.

In the High Court at Whangarei this morning, Mike Blowers was sentenced to four years and nine months for supplying meth and two years and three months for theft of drugs, to be served concurrently. He was discharged on charge of supplying cannabis.

The former Detective Sergeant, who's 51, pleaded guilty in October to supplying methamphetamine, and stealing methamphetamine from a police exhibit room. The charges date to a period between June 2011 and June 2012.

Blowers changed his plea to guilty two days into a jury trial which had been set down for two weeks.

The veteran officer had 20 years' experience on the job, with particular expertise in battling the drug trade. He was the officer in charge of the Northland Organised Crime Unit which carried out raids against drug manufacturers and suppliers.

He resigned two weeks before his arrest in April last year.