A woman caught with thousands of pills used to make methamphetamine was a courier and an important link in the drug making chain, Whangarei District Court has been told.
Tiffany Olivia Joll, 25, of Henderson, Auckland was sentenced to 250 hours community work after pleading guilty to possession of a precursor
substance for the manufacture of methamphetamine or speed.
The maximum penalty for the offence is five years' jail.
Crown prosecutor Peter Magee said Joll was a graphic illustration of the consequences of being seduced by the drug culture.
Joll had been a courier in the methamphetamine manufacture chain. When police searched Joll's car at a Whangarei hotel on June 28, 2001, they found a large bag of flu medication tablets which weighed approximately 300g and contained several thousand pills.
The tablets contain ephedrine, which is used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Also found in the car was a bag of Dextrose sugar, a common cutting compound used to make speed go further.
"Take the courier out of the chain and the drug manufacturing process is made much more difficult," Mr Magee said.
Defence counsel Arthur Fairley said Joll had been a high achiever at school, but was vulnerable and had been exploited by her boyfriend.
Since being arrested Joll had distanced herself from drug associates and had sought help for her drug addiction.
Judge Michael Lance QC said Joll's poor choice in boyfriends had led her to court.
"The circumstances were you acted as a courier for a much older experienced person that you had a relationship with and one where you were dominated," he said.
Herald Feature: The P epidemic
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