Hawke's Bay man bragged that his meth 'safe house' had $300,000 cash stash

Another man pleaded guilty in Napier to his involvement in a Hawke's Bay meth ring. Photo / File

A man who supplied a 'safe house' for a Hawke's Bay meth ring and bragged about storing more than $300,000 in cash has pleaded guilty to drug offences.

Nigel Cook, 54, appeared in front of Judge Geoff Rea in Napier District Court.

He pleaded guilty to two charges, one of possession of methamphetamine for supply, and one of supplying methamphetamine.

According to the summary of facts, Cook at one point held 1.5kg of meth, although how much he stored over his involvement with the ring is unknown.

Police secretly recorded a conversation between Cook and an associate, where he showed the associate more than $310,000 in "neatly organised bundles of cash".

He also said they only had three "sausages" (56 grams), of the 27 they previously had in stock.

He also sold roughly 62 grams of methamphetamine.

On Friday, November 8, he was remanded for sentencing on January 28.

The case is part of a major police case called Operation Chrome, in which eight people were arrested.

According to the summary of facts, police were able to retrieve texts dating back to April 2018, and were authorised to monitored certain phones live, during the operation which dates back to 2018.

The case was put on hold while the Court of Appeal reviewed the scale of available penalties.

On Friday November 1, two low level players in the ring pleaded guilty to charges relating to the case.

Hastings man Callan Dane Curtis pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to supply drugs.

Angela Louise Johnson, from Napier, also pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to supply drugs, and also admitted allowing premises to be used for the cultivation of cannabis.