Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Cocaine accused ruled not guilty

By Zaryd Wilson
Whanganui Chronicle·
11 Dec, 2014 05:24 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A former Wanganui man has been found not guilty of importing cocaine via his mother-in-law's stomach in an incident that killed her.

Peter Leaitua, now 43, was returning to New Zealand from Colombia via Argentina with his partner, two children and mother-in-law in 2012.

The mother-in-law, Sorlinda Vega, had swallowed 26 packets, or about half a kilo, of cocaine and managed to get through Customs. However, the following day two of the packets split in her stomach and she died in Auckland Hospital of acute cocaine poisoning, 21 hours after arriving in the country. The cocaine was estimated to be worth $120,000 to $190,000.

Mr Leaitua then became a target of investigations by Argentine and New Zealand police.

He was originally charged with manslaughter and importing cocaine. It can be revealed he was discharged on the manslaughter charge in April last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Earlier this year he was tried on the importing cocaine charge in the High Court at Auckland, the jury unable to reach a verdict.

However, he was found not guilty by a jury in a second trial at the High Court yesterday.

"He's massively relieved," his lawyer, Chris Wilkinson-Smith, told the Chronicle.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He was having to think about the possibility he would be serving a very lengthy prison sentence. (Now he can) carry on and be a father," Mr Wilkinson-Smith said.

"It's life changing."

Mr Wilkinson-Smith said Mr Leaitua left Wanganui when he was about 20 and his family had since spread around the globe.

He said Mr Leaitua had trained as a butcher in Wanganui and also had a stint playing rugby for King Country before taking up kickboxing in Colombia.

Mr Wilkinson-Smith said the defence argued Ms Vega was an independent woman and was capable of importing the drug without Mr Leaitua's help.

He said the 43-year-old was now looking forward to spending time with his three sons and getting back to an ordinary life.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Plans for new design school must move 'at haste'

Whanganui Chronicle

Grant helps school provide rugby player shelters

Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Plans for new design school must move 'at haste'
Whanganui Chronicle

Plans for new design school must move 'at haste'

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe has been critical of Ucol's commitment to Whanganui.

15 Jul 06:00 PM
Grant helps school provide rugby player shelters
Whanganui Chronicle

Grant helps school provide rugby player shelters

15 Jul 05:00 PM
Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running
Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

15 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP