Phone taps ‘small price to pay’ in growing Chch drugs scene

Press, 9 October 1978, Page 1

Phone taps ‘small price to pay’ in growing Chch drugs scene

Two years of “public paranoia” about telephone tapping was a small price to pay for the excellent assistance that it would provide in the battle against the “Mr Bigs” of the New Zealand drug scene, a detective suggested in Christchurch last evening.

Detective Sergeant J. M. Lyall, one of the sixmember Christchurch police drug squad, spoke at a drug education seminar organised by the Lions Club of Christchurch. While there was no hope of the police stopping the use of marijuana, there was great hope that the sale of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine could be slowed through the use of bugging devices, he said.

The police already knew of many big drug dealers who had had their telephones disconnected because of the new provisions for telephone tapping, Detective Sergeant Lyall said.

He said there was no doubt that more than 10,000 people in Christchurch . were regular users of marijuana. Police attention was now being turned to the West Coast as the main growing

season for cannabis plants approached. “Westland is the main cannabis-growing area for the South Island, with many acres of it under cultivation. We will concentrate our attention on this area,” he said. Detective Sergeant Lyall was particularly alarmed about the threat which the drug cocaine, posed to New Zealand.

Although this was not an addictive drug causing physical dependence, it was one which could “flood” the country if direct flights from South America started to come to New Zealand.

“This is taking over in the streets of New York

because it is not addictive. But it is still dangerous and we can expect to see more and more of it available here,” he said. “Already it is on sale in the streets of Christchurch for about $l3O a gram.” Obvious links between the New Zealand drug scene and criminal and violent behaviour were a fact of life to members of the drug squad in Christchurch, he said.

“There is no way we can stop the violence which we know goes on wnen ‘ripoffs’ are performed. Up to $lOOO is being paid for a person’s knee-caps to be shot off,” Detective Sergeant Lyall said. The police often only

learnt about the violence associated with drugs long after it had happened, and by then no opportunity was available for any follow-up. Detective Sergeant Lyall said it was “a shame” that Christchurch had no proper treatment programmes for drug addicts. Methadone treatment programmes were a waste of time and “useless” because they kept addicts addicted, he said. What was needed was an ap-

proach giving addicts something other than drugs to help them establish self-esteem and friendship with others.