KEY POINTS:
Well-monied families are paying private investigators as much as $200,000 to get their children off methamphetamine by staging dramatic interventions.
The cost is high - but according to private investigation agency Paragon New Zealand, it's a small price to pay for families desperate to rid their children of
the scourge of P.
Daniel Toresen, chief operating officer of Paragon NZ, said the company had been hired to intervene four times already this year and had been busy last year. "Parents are absolutely devastated - overcome with shock and horror."
Clients included a 17-year-old schoolboy who estimated at least 20 of his friends were involved in methamphetamine, and a 25-year-old accountant whose family became concerned at her behaviour.
Toresen said the interventions had cost between $20,000 and $200,000 - "it's the ones with financial means who can do something about it".
The company's radical approach involves following the person with GPS technology, monitoring phonecalls, and then the family confronting them with evidence of their drug use.
Toresen said the method was highly successful but also extremely emotional and intense. But he said it also gathered conclusive evidence that a person was using P - the sort of proof needed to overcome the denial that came with addiction.
"It's inherent in these people that they are liars," he said. "Even when confronted with a P pipe they will lie. They'll say 'I tried it once' or 'it's not mine'. We get an accurate view of what they are up to."
The technique relies on using the accessories common in well-off families - cars or mobile phones paid for by parents. With the permission of the legal owners - the parents - the investigators can follow and record the activity of the suspected drug user.
Signs of drug use include a phone being used 24 hours a day for a number of days, an indicator the person is unable to sleep as a result of using P.
A GPS device is fitted to vehicles used by the suspect so investigators can track the person and monitor who they are meeting, and in some cases the purpose of the meeting.
Eventually, investigators build a profile of the person's life, often including the person they are getting drugs from. The eventual confrontation sees the drug user interviewed by investigators until all aspects of their secret lives have been uncovered.
In some cases, the parents and user give the company permission to remove them from the lifestyle. They are moved to an isolated area in another country until their drug habit is broken.
Toresen said the company had a close relationship with police and those exposed during the investigation realised the potential for information to be passed on. It meant the user was isolated from the scene he or she relied on for drugs.
In the case of the 17-year-old, the boy's car was followed, friends watched and calls monitored. When enough information had been gained, he was confronted and confessed to the extent of his habit.
The initial reaction was "shock, denial turning to anger and even violence" before breaking through to the "truth phase" to talk about the problem.
In this case, the boy was buying and on-selling drugs. Toresen said the boy told investigators "at least 20 friends" were also using.
Toresen recently encountered the 25-year-old accountant the company had helped. She had gone from physically wasting away, dealing drugs and prostituting herself for more drugs to regaining her confidence.
"She had a fresh face and a big smile. She shook our hands and was incredibly thankful."
Toresen said there was enough information in the community for people to be aware of the dangers of methamphetamine.
But police needed more resources to fight the drug and the country needed more subsidised residential clinics to deal with addicts.
