Meth manufacturer jailed for 17 years

Polcie are still hunting for Stephen Merhtens, who has been on the run for more than a year after escaping custody while on bail. Photo / supplied

A 17-year jail sentence has been handed out to a man found guilty of manufacturing about four kilograms of methamphetamine in Coromandel.

Waihi man Scott Filer, 48, helped manufacture the methamphetamine, with a street value of between $3 and $4 million, over a nine-month period between October 2009 and May 2010.

He was arrested in May 2010 in raids described by police as one of the most significant disruptions to organised crime in New Zealand.

Co-offender Stephen Merhtens, 56, has been on the run for more than a year after escaping custody while on bail.

He was found guilty after a four week trial was held in his absence late last year.

The investigation into the pair uncovered links to both organised crime in Auckland and Asian-based criminal specialists who provided pre-cursor materials for manufacturing 'P', police said.

Detective Sergeant Glenn Tinsley said the 17-year jail sentence handed out to Filer in Hamilton Court on Friday reflected the widespread damage wrought by the production and distribution of methamphetamine.

"It's the Scott Filer's of this world and people like him that supply our young people with these strongly addictive and destructive drugs and it's pleasing to know in this case that a significant supply of these drugs into the Coromandel has been disrupted."

Mr Tinsley said the investigation team still wanted to find Merhtens, who he described as a significant "loose thread" in the case.

Merhtens was described as 177cm tall of medium build with a distinctive large lump or growth on the right side of his neck.

He has had had access to firearms and police warned he should not be approached.

- HERALD ONLINE