Students suspended for selling drugs 2010-09-08

Seven students have been asked to leave one of Wellington's most exclusive boys colleges, for dealing drugs at school.A number of Scots College students were caught supplying and smoking marijuana on school property.Five students...

Authority upholds sackings for dangerous driving and cannabis 2010-09-02

Appeals by two sacked truck drivers against separate employers have failed. One was dismissed for driving dangerously and the other for using drugs.The Employment Relations Authority found that both had been justifiably sacked.In...

Police make drug arrests after shooting 2010-08-31

Police have made three "peripheral"arrests after an armed offenders'squad callout on Auckland's North Shore, where a man was shot yesterday.The AOS cordoned off the property on Glenfield Rd in suburban Glenfield after neighbours...

Confiscation of home 'punishment enough' 2010-08-27

Confiscation of Rodney George Elliot's $485,000 home was punishment enough for his part in an indoor cannabis-growing operation, a High Court judge ruled in Gisborne today.Elliot, 53, was convicted and sentenced to one year of...

Judge makes cannabis danger documentary 2010-08-26

A departing Taranaki judge is so concerned about the impact cannabis has on youth offenders he has made a documentary showing the dangers it poses to young brains.Youth Court Judge Rob Murfitt said he had seen the effect cannabis...

US drugs seizure 2010-08-26

Authorities in San Diego say narcotics task force agents have seized an estimated 25,000 marijuana plants worth up to US$100 million ($139 million) on a Southern California farm believed to be run by Mexican drug traffickers.

Suspension delays Millie Elder hearing 2010-08-23

The suspension of high-profile lawyer Chris Comeskey has delayed a hearing for Paul Holmes'daughter Millie Elder on drugs charges.Elder was due to have a defended hearing in Auckland District Court today on charges of possession...

Freedom or your home - you choose 2010-08-21

A $465,000 house has been seized from a commercial cannabis grower as punishment instead of an 18- month prison sentence.In what is believed to be a legal first, Justice Mark Cooper convicted and discharged Daniel Geoffrey Brazendale...

Brothel-keeper found guilty of sex charges 2010-08-19

New Plymouth brothel-keeper Michael Hastie has been found guilty of under-age sex and prostitution charges.Hastie, 60, had denied six under-age sex and prostition charges relating to a 15-year-old girl, as well as supplying cannabis...

Schapelle Corby's jail sentence cut 2010-08-17

Australian drug traffickers Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence have both received five-month sentence cuts as part of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations.The head of Bali's Kerobokan Prison, Siswanto, told reporters on Tuesday...

Cannabis back outdoors 2010-08-10

Cannabis growers in the Far North are returning to small bush plots. Area commander Inspector Chris Scahill said of the roughly 100,000 plants found and destroyed each year, 50,000 were in Northland - and of those, 40,000-45,000...

Drug dealer should lose home, says Crown 2010-08-08

A man arrested during a major police drugs operation offended from his "half-million-dollar Wainui beach home"and he should "lose it", the Crown says.Rodney George Elliott, 57, appeared in the High Court at Gisborne on Friday...

Father, partner, son, jailed over tinnie house 2010-08-04

Three members of a Harini family whose home was known as "The Shop"in the Tauranga drug-dealing scene, have all been imprisoned after selling cannabis tinnies to undercover police officers.Mark Poroa, 46, his partner Roseanne...

Brother of liquor store shooter jailed for tinnie house robbery 2010-08-03

The brother and a friend of the man who killed liquor store owner Navtej Singh have been sentenced for their part in an aggravated robbery of a tinnie house a day before the fatal shooting.Anitelea Chan Kee, 21, his brother, Ameto...

Video hiccups in cannabis sentencing 2010-08-02

A cannabis grower has been sentenced to 12 months'home detention in what is believed to be the first such sentencing by video link.However, there were teething problems with the new system when Gavin Herewini, 29, appeared in...

California: $2.4b cannabis bust 2010-07-31

FRESNO: Nearly 100 people have been arrested in an ongoing sweep of cannabis-growing operations that have netted more than US$1.7 billion ($2.4 billion) worth of the drug in California's Sierra Nevada range, federal and state agents...

Campaigner for cannabis avoids trip to prison 2010-07-29

Legalise cannabis campaigner Dakta Green celebrated on Tuesday night after escaping any penalty from two convictions for two charges of selling cannabis and one charge of possession for sale.Green faced a sentencing hearing in...

Cannabis, gun charges in police shooting case 2010-07-28

Five new charges were laid against the Christchurch man accused of shooting two policemen and killing a police dog when he reappeared in Christchurch District Court this morning.Christopher Graeme Smith, 34, a process worker of...

Burnt cannabis annoying residents 2010-07-27

The smell of seized cannabis being burnt at the police station is getting up the noses of residents of the Southland town of Gore.Businesses closest to the police station say it is not a good look for visitors who use the public...

Alleged drug driver caught with cannabis 2010-07-26

A 55-year-old man was caught with up to $7500 of cannabis in his car after police in Tauranga stopped him for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs.The Coromandel man was stopped on Third Ave, Tauranga, and failed a compulsory...

Basketball: Webster to miss champs after drugs suspension 2010-07-24

Guard Corey Webster has been ruled out of contention for the New Zealand men's squad for the world championship in Turkey after being suspended for two months for cannabis use.With Webster having started serving a provisional...

New charges over police shootings 2010-07-22

Two men charged after the shooting of two Christchurch police officers nine days ago now face extra charges.Senior Constable Bruce Lamb and Constable Mitchel Alatalo were both wounded in the shooting duringa routine inquiry in...

Further charges for brother of police shooting accused 2010-07-22

Six new charges were laid against Steven Paul Smith, brother of the man who allegedly shot two police officers in Christchurch last week, when he reappeared in court today.Two of them were joint charges with his brother Christopher...

Teen arrested after threats to relative 2010-07-19

Armed police were called to a Tauranga house today after a teenager made threats toward an elderly relative.Police said the armed offenders squad was called to suburban Matua about 2pm after the 18-year-old threatened his relative,...

Cannabis-filled tennis ball plan foiled 2010-07-16

A recently released Wanganui prisoner has been foiled in an alleged attempt to throw two cannabis-filled tennis balls into the prison unit he was released from in May.After receiving a tipoff, police were waiting outside Wanganui...

Switched on Gardener worker pleads guilty 2010-07-15

A man who worked for the Wellington branch of Switched on Gardener has pleaded guilty to charges of supplying undercover police equipment for cannabis cultivation.Bo Nilsson, 42, worked as a retail assistant for the Ngaio branch...

Basketball: Webster stays after positive drug test 2010-07-06

The Breakers are to retain Corey Webster, despite the young guard's positive drugs test.Webster's world championship hopes hang in the balance after he tested positive for smoking cannabis during the NZNBL but any punishment is...

Paris Hilton arrested at World Cup 2010-07-03

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa - Paris Hilton has appeared briefly in a South African courtroom after being arrested on suspicion possession of marijuana, according to a reporter in court.Hilton appeared in a special FIFA World...

Three on dope charges 2010-07-02

Police arrested three people after uncovering two large marijuana growing operations during raids on five houses in Auckland yesterday. They also seized 11 vehicles and nearly $100,000 cash under Proceeds of Crime legislation....

Police bust pot-growing operations 2010-07-01

Police arrested three people after uncovering two large marijuana growing operations during raids on five houses in Auckland today.They also seized 11 vehicles and nearly $100,000 cash.Two men, aged 42 and 26, and a woman,...