Staff at a synthetic cannabis store cowered behind a counter as hundreds of people gathered outside to protest the sale of legal highs ...
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Staff at a synthetic cannabis store cowered behind a counter as hundreds of people gathered outside to protest the sale of legal highs
NOW PLAYING • Protesters target legal drug shop - High Zone
Staff at a synthetic cannabis store cowered behind a counter as hundreds of people gathered outside to protest the sale of legal highs ...
Matthew Wielenga was known as King Kronic, the man who made a fortune off New Zealand’s legal high boom;
Importing synthetic cannabis to the United States led to his arrest and four-year jail sentence;
The US court has now released Wielenga and cleared his release to New Zealand.
The man who once rode high as King Kronic has been granted permission to leave the United States prison to which he was sentenced and return home to New Zealand, according to court documents.
Matthew Wielenga, 43, was released with “time served”noted on his file by the United States district court of South California with a note he remained “under supervision” for three years.
The former king of the synthetic cannabis market returns to New Zealand having had to forfeit $7.7 million - but he retains a property portfolio worth more than $40m.
It’s a fortune built from a time when the entrepreneur was reportedly earning $700,000 a month from the legal high business, living the high-life with top-end cars and rubbing shoulders with celebrities.
Court documents show that while he was in prison, Wielenga earned as little as US$1 an hour as a porter before rising to the position of kitchen worker, where he was paid US$1.75.
The Herald has approached Wielenga through his lawyer but received no response.
Matthew Wielenga during his heydey as King Kronic. Photo / Supplied
On the “special conditions” section of the court file for Wielenga’s release, it says: “Defendant is allowed to reside in New Zealand.”
It is unknown if Wielenga has actually returned to New Zealand. Court documents showed he faced being deported from the United States on release from prison.
The release brings to an end a saga that began when Wielenga set out to import his synthetic cannabis substance into the US.
Wielenga made his fortune during the boom years of New Zealand’s legal high industry, reportedly pulling in $700,000 a month at one stage. He also pioneered a vaping liquid blend of synthetic cannabinoids called Kronic Juice.
The market collapsed in 2011 when the government banned Kronic after calls for action from the community amid increasing numbers of people experiencing bad reactions - including anecdotal reports of racing heart rates and depressive slumps.
In the wake of the 2011 Kronic ban in New Zealand, Wielenga looked to Australia where he was arrested over the substance in a case that was dropped in 2014.
A product named Kronic then popped up briefly in the United Kingdom around 2018 until testing showed it contained banned substances.
That move came in April 2019, the same month the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) banned the substance as an “imminent hazard to the public safety”.
Matthew Wielenga was dubbed King Kronic for his dominance of the synthetic cannabis market in New Zealand. Photo / Facebook
It followed the synthetic cannabis substance being banned in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom amid reports over the negative impacts it was having on users.
Wielenga pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances - in this case, a plan to import to the US a synthetic cannabis product similar to that which earned him millions of dollars during the heyday of New Zealand’s “legal high” period.
Documents from a related case stated that Wielenga was arrested after the DEA engaged a confidential source who allegedly planned to source synthetic cannabis for distribution in the US.
According to the court documents, that confidential source was a key DEA witness in the Wielenga case.
Wielenga and the accused did not know each other, the DEA has told the court, but the confidential information was said to know both as sources for synthetic cannabis.
The Kronic product line included pre-made 'joints' of synthetic cannabis for sale. Photo / file
Evidence filed with the court in a connected case showed the US federal agents were planning to rely on transcripts of telephone conversations involving the confidential informant as evidence.
The case against Wielenga alleged he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute synthetic cannabis and a conspiracy to launder money relating from the proceeds of the sale of the compound.
That substance was 5f-cumyl-pinaca - a synthetic cannabis compound developed by former party pill king Matt Bowden who sat atop the New Zealand legal highs market for years.
Matt Bowden, known as the "godfather" of the legal high industry. Photo / Greg Bowker
Wielenga’s path to prison in the US began in April 2019 when the DEA began monitoring him and his plans to import the compound into the United States.
The DEA claimed in its case that there were six occasions from 2019 to 2021 during which Wielenga sent about 177kg of synthetic cannabis to the United States. In court documents, agents alleged Wielenga planned the delivery of another 170kg of synthetic cannabis.
The court documents stated that the compound was destined for use in vapes.
The charges carried a hefty maximum sentence of 40 years in a federal prison with Wielenga also having to forfeit $7.7m said to have been earned from selling the substance.
Matthew Wielenga earned US$1 an hour as a prisoner but emerges to reclaim a $40m property portfolio.
As it turned out, Wielenga was able to plead to one charge and secure a sentence of 51 months - four years and three months.
That sentencing took place last year and was followed by fresh moves to have Wielenga released from prison.
New court documents show that was achieved last month on the basis Wielenga had served his sentence and would remain under “supervision” for three years.
During his time inside, Wielenga worked as a porter, prison store keeper and then kitchen hand earning prison wages of up to US$1.75 an hour.
Court records show Wielenga also completed a number of business-focused courses including how to develop a “world famous employee communication strategy” and creating a “strategic plan” for a company.
At Wielenga’s sentencing last year, he provided the judge a letter expressing his sorrow over the crime to which he pleaded guilty and the impact it had on his wife, Sassetta Andrew, who has worked in high-end marketing and public relations roles in New Zealand, and their two children.
“My wife Sassetta has been amazing through this journey - her loyalty, love and commitment has been second to none.”
He said she had lost two jobs as a result of the notoriety around his criminal offending in the US.
“The reputational damage to our family and to Sassetta from my actions is significant and cannot be understated considering the small population size of New Zealand.
“Her professional career development opportunities are ruined because of me. I have a lot of making up to do when I get home and I am committed to putting in the work, like going to a marriage counsellor, to make sure our marriage foundations are rock solid for the future and for [our children].
“I am the luckiest man in the world to have Sassetta standing by my side. Her love is like a shield that makes me feel protected and together I know we can achieve anything.”
The Herald has identified 12 properties with connections to Wielenga, owned through three different companies.
The estimated value of the portfolio sits around $40m with the bulk of it resting in a Takapuna beachfront property half-owned by Andrew that has a four-year-old government valuation of $18m.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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