Crown wants ringleader's property

Jaak Roy Karu. Photo / Dean Purcell

Police have seized the clifftop home belonging to a key player in a commercial cannabis ring that grew crops inside houses across Auckland.

Jaak Roy Karu has now pleaded guilty to three charges of cannabis cultivation, one count of selling the Class C drug and possession for sale. The 42-year-old owns a 425sq m home on Northcote Point, which overlooks the Waitemata Harbour and has a capital valuation of $1.25 million.

The property was mortgage-free when Karu was targeted by organised crime detectives last year in Operation Company.

The Crown will seek to have the property forfeited under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act.

Karu will argue the crop yield is not as much as what police claim. The result of the disputed facts hearing in the Auckland District Court will impact on the eventual sentence handed down.

Paul David Jensen, 42, has pleaded guilty to the same charges as Karu.

Police found more than 370 plants hidden in secret rooms fitted with fluorescent lights, reflective lighting, fans, extraction vents, heaters, digital thermometers, water filters and fertiliser. Karu and Jensen sold the cannabis by the pound (454g) for $3000 to $5000.

As hydroponically grown cannabis yields three or four crops each year, the police allege the drug cultivation from the seized plants could earn between $3.3 million and $7.4 million. This is disputed by Karu and Jensen.

A third defendant, Mark Lloyd Pedersen, has pleaded guilty to two charges of cultivation and one charge of possession for supply. He has denied a third charge of cultivation, selling the Class-C drug and participating in an organised criminal group.

He will stand trial next February with his partner Sharon Claire O'Neill and Andreas Johannes Turk, who have pleaded not guilty to all charges.