Methamphetamine deal captured on CCTV from Napier supermarket

A Napier man was sent to pretrial detention after admitting charges related to the alleged sale of approximately 367 grams of methamphetamine, traced by messages on his cell phones.

Appearing in Napier District Court on Friday, two days before his 44th birthday, William David Taylor pleaded guilty to the representative charges of supplying methamphetamine and possessing methamphetamine for supply in the seven weeks between 26th September and November 14.

In conducting a broader investigation into meth in Hawke’s Bay, police obtained a “production warrant” to seize Taylor’s cell phones and found text messages linking him to at least 10 transactions with customers in Hawke’s Bay and a supplier in Palmerston North.

Sums of up to $ 6,000 an ounce (28 grams) were mentioned, and in one case Taylor told the Palmerston North merchant that he had an ounce and a half available for $ 10,000, according to a police summary.

CCTV footage captured one of the transactions taking place at a Napier supermarket.

While the maximum penalty for supplying methamphetamine is life in prison, Taylor was allowed to continue bail on compassionate grounds to appear for sentencing on December 8.

A woman who appeared in Napier court in May in an unrelated case and was described by a judge as a “cartel figure” for control of methamphetamine and a fall from grace was sentenced to three years in prison for providing storage of Methamphetamine in a “safe place” – 446 grams of which was found on the property.

Sentences for methamphetamine trading handed down in New Zealand courts in the past year range up to 27½ years last December in Auckland for 63-year-old Ricky Tat Choi Leung in Auckland for his involvement in major imports.