Can't a dealer just deal in peace?
Absolutely not. Especially when the Otago Lakes Central Impairment Prevention Team (IPT) is out and about.
After packing up a large checkpoint near Queenstown on 3 December, the IPT were on their way to their next location, when Sergeant Dylan Hannah-Jones spotted something interesting.
“There were a couple of cars down a gravel road that basically looked a bit suspicious,” says Dylan. “I just thought we should go and check what they were up to.”
Dylan’s suspicions were raised further as they approached, when one of the vehicles drove away at haste.
“I was in the passenger seat of our patrol vehicle, so I decided to jump out to stay with the remaining car. I instructed my colleague to pull over the departing vehicle up the road as quickly as they could, which they managed to do after only about 20 metres.”
The manner of the remaining vehicle’s driver only served to ramp up Dylan’s suspicions, not to mention the overwhelming scent of cannabis.
“He was extremely uncooperative and was warned of arrest," says Dylan.
“We managed to settle things down and I invoked a search because of the immediate strong smell of cannabis.”
The search quickly confirmed all of Dylan’s mounting suspicions.
“We found close to $10,000 in cash, magic mushrooms and nearly nine ounces of cannabis.
“As it turned out, we had interrupted a drug deal in progress. The vehicle that initially tried to take off was the customer, who had purchased a small amount of cannabis, and I had the dealer.”
The result of Dylan’s intuition was a series of drug-related charges for the alleged dealer. He was also charged for failing to hand over his phone’s pin.
As for the customer, they had already been forbidden to drive, so had their car seized and were handed a summons.
Not a bad result for Dylan and his team following their noses down a gravel road.