A Northland drug dealer was mainly supplying users around Kaikohe and Rawene. Photo / NZME
Kaikohe and Rawene drug users were flooded with nearly a kilogram of meth - about $100,000 worth - over four days by a woman who was quickly back on the phone, looking to buy more because demand was so good.
Carlyn Anderson, 57, was caught as part of a 2021 drug sting in Northland and subsequently pleaded guilty to a raft of charges for which she was sentenced earlier this year in Whangārei District Court to five years, four months’ imprisonment.
She appealed the sentence in July, arguing it was manifestly excessive, but the Appeal Court disagreed and dismissed the case.
Its decision, recently released online, revisits Anderson’s offending as summarised at sentencing by Judge Peter Davey.
Anderson’s offending came to light because her supplier, Patariki Apiata was identified during Operation Freya, which was led by the then-newly established Northland District Police Organised Crime Unit.
Between March 2020 and November 2021, police and customs worked together to dismantle a sophisticated drug-dealing and international smuggling operation.
Customs intercepted 15 separate air cargo or mail consignments, and police executed 11 search warrants, arrested 12 people with links to the Head Hunters and Mongrel Mob gangs, and seized $8 million worth of drugs, including 17kg of meth.
Between July and October 2021, Anderson offered cannabis for sale on 25 occasions and supplied or offered meth several times, including 184g to two people and 341g to three others.
Over four days in October, she bought 390g of meth from Apiata for about $98,000 and immediately sought more because of demand.
A search of her home on October 15 found 22 half-gram meth bags, cannabis plants under lights, and seedlings outside. That day, police also stopped Anderson and Apiata in a ute, and found cash and a gram of meth.
While on bail at a Dargaville address in March 2022, police found cellphones, 1.45g of meth, empty snaplock dealer bags, and two glass drug pipes.
In total, Anderson was linked to about 925g of meth plus unknown quantities, which it was accepted would have brought the overall amount closer to a kilogram.
Her offending was captured in six charges of supplying meth, four of offering to supply it, two of possessing the drug for supply, one of simple possession of it (an amount less than that presumptive of supply), and three of offering to sell cannabis.
At sentencing, Judge Davy said Anderson’s illegal activities were akin to band four of a relevant case (Zhang) where sentences ranged between eight and 16 years’ imprisonment.
The judge set a starting point for Anderson’s offending at nine and a half years, with an uplift adjusted for totality of 18 months for the cannabis offending, taking the total to 11 years.
Calculating reductions, Judge Davy noted Anderson had no previous convictions, appeared to have had a good upbringing but was introduced to meth in her early 20s by an abusive partner.
The judge gave discounts of 10% for her guilty pleas and 35% for her longstanding addiction, efforts at rehabilitation, and remorse. Davy accepted Anderson’s offending was linked to her longstanding drug addiction but said it was much more than necessary to simply feed her habit.
There was also a six-month reduction for her two and a half years on restrictive bail.
On appeal, Anderson’s counsel argued the starting point for the meth offending and uplift for the cannabis offending was too high, and that there was insufficient credit for guilty pleas, mitigating factors including progress at rehabilitation, charitable donations Anderson made totalling $10,000, and time on electronically monitored bail.
The appeal court found no errors. It said Anderson was sentenced on an agreed summary of facts, which she couldn’t go beyond, and the starting point and uplift imposed were well within an appropriate range for those facts.
It was three years after her arrest and only a week before her scheduled two-week trial that Anderson finally pleaded guilty. And resolution had included the Crown’s withdrawal of some charges and amalgamation of others into representative charges.
While the 35% reduction given by the sentencing judge was not generous, it was within an appropriate range, the Appeal Court said.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.