Three of 31 Northland stores sold alcohol to minor, police say

Three Far North stores allegedly sold alcohol to a minor in a police/health board sting.

Northland police and health officials say three of 31 stores targeted in a recent sting sold alcohol to underaged patrons.

Northland District Health Board and Police staff last week conducted two Controlled Purchase Operations (CPOs) at licensed premises throughout Northland were disappointed with the result in one of the districts.

During the two operations, volunteers aged 17 years attempted to buy alcohol from licensed premises throughout the Far North and Whangarei. The 15 outlets tested by the enforcement agencies in Whangarei resulted in no sales.

But three sales were made at the 15 outlets tested in the Far North.
Alcohol Harm Prevention Officer, Mid/Far North Police Senior Constable Rasau Kalivati, said the results are very disappointing.

"I cannot stress strongly enough that holders of a liquor license should ask for identification if they are in doubt of the age of a customer or where the customer appears under 25 years of age.

''If identification is produced, the seller must verify the correct age before making a sale.

"As a community, we need to have confidence that license holders will not sell alcohol to our youth," Kalivati said

Police are following up with those premises that sold alcohol to the volunteer.

Whangarei Police Alcohol Harm Prevention Officer Sergeant Tai Patrick said the result from the 15 premises tested in the greater Whangarei and Bream Bay areas was very good and all the licensed premises tested had good systems in place and asked for identification on every occasion, which was encouraging.

Controlled Purchase Operations (CPOs) are part of an ongoing programme to assess compliance with the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 in an effort to address access to alcohol by minors.