Rotorua pair charged with supplying P

A Rotorua pair arrested after an extensive police covert tele-communications surveillance operation are on trial accused of running separate businesses supplying drugs to street dealers.
Tai Nuttal, 44, and Tina Jessica Turner, 46, appeared in the High Court at Rotorua before Justice Ailsa Duffy and a jury facing 26 joint drug charges related to a Bay of Plenty police investigation in 2009, code named Operation Atlas.
The pair face one count of possession of cannabis for supply, two counts of offering to supply methamphetamine, five of conspiring to supply methamphetamine, seven of supplying methamphetamine and 11 counts of possession of methamphetamine for supply.
All charges have been denied by the pair.
In opening yesterday, Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon said the pair ran separate businesses supplying methamphetamine to "low-level street" dealers sometimes "pooling" their resources to buy large quantities of the Class A drug, commonly known as P.
The charges relate to a period between March 1, 2009 and September 18, 2009, when police arrested the pair, after an alleged drug deal at a reserve in the Kaimai Ranges.
"People involved in the supply and distribution of drugs are operating a business," said Mrs Gordon.
"You can't open a shop or advertise on the internet 'come to me, I have methamphetamine for sale'. It's done in a covert and secret way."
Cellphones were used by the pair to try and avoid detection and as a result the evidence was technical data, said Mrs Gordon.
It is alleged the pair owned pre-paid cellphones which they used to make their deals.
"You can go into any shop and buy one without providing any personal details," she said.
They were arrested after months of police investigative work, involving hundreds of intercepted text messages and telephone calls between the pair and alleged drug dealers throughout the country, including Ngongotaha man Graham Williams, who was also arrested during Operation Atlas.
Mrs Gordon told the jury they would hear how the pair sent coded text messages to each other and Williams, as the "preferred buyer", to obtain methamphetamine in either large or small quantities, depending on what they needed.
They sent text messages like "algud 2 cme c u?" or "algud 2 cme out?", she said.
In return a text message stating whether the "mailman" had been or not was then sent to let them know if they could buy the drug from him or not, the court heard.
In September, 2009, police intercepted a number of phone calls arranging deals out of Rotorua in the early hours of the morning, the court heard.
As a result, police followed the pair who were in a BMW belonging to Turner, and allegedly watched a drug deal go down at a reserve on the Kaimai Ranges on September 18, 2009.
Police, following the pair as they returned to Rotorua, stopped the car in Mamaku where it was alleged that during a search of the vehicle, they discovered 14.7g of methamphetamine hidden in a black magnetic box under carpet in the boot, 11.1g of methamphetamine in reusable plastic bags in the car, along with a number of empty reusable plastic bags, 37g of cannabis in one sealed plastic bag as well as $12,500 in cash.
Police also found two electronic scales capable of weighing small amounts of the drug, the court heard.
The text and phone data collected by police during the intercepts would prove Nuttal and Turner were supplying methamphetamine in Rotorua, Mrs Gordon said.
"There is strong and clear evidence of what these two were up to ... they were operating a business supplying methamphetamine," she said. The trial is expected to take five days.
 
INTERCEPTED TEXT:
- Hi mate did u wnt nuther 1 2mrw?
- At hme if u in need.
- How much cake u want?
- Aunty u still need a cple a fat choc cake?
- Moni up front 4 ingrdients.
- Any whole 1s dog?
- Try 2 find sum u knw what.
- Bro did u wnt 2 pck up anythng tyme 2 act now?