Drug dealer has cash for policeman’s death

Press, 20 December 1978, Page 6

Drug dealer has cash for policeman’s death

PA Auckland The leading heroin distributor in Auckland had put out a SIO,OOO “contract” on a senior detective’s life, the Auckland police said yesterday. The dealer is the man whom the “Auckland Star” dubbed “Mr Suburban” in a series about the New Zealand drug scene, published in August. The head of the CJ.B. robbery- squad, Detective Inspector G. F. Hugglestone, told a reporter that “Mr Suburban” had offered SlO.OOO to a Wellington criminal if he was willing to murder the detective. The police, “as a pre-

caution,” are not naming the detective under threat but Mr Hugglestone said the officer and his family were under police protection. “Our information comes from Wellington underworld sources and other sources,” Mr Hugglestone said. “We are taking it seriously.” Mr Hugglestone said the Wellington criminal approached by “Mr Suburban” had a conviction for illegal possession of a pistol. “We also know the man (‘Mr Suburban’) has put out feelers in Australia, hoping to find a killer there,” he said. Inquiries by a reporter

reveal that “Mr Suburban” has had a grudge against the detective since the police raided his home this month. It is believed that “Mr Suburban” has been forced to scale down his drug operations because of police pressure. In its “Asian Connection” series, the “Auckland Star” reported that “Mr Suburban” had a history of violence, and on one occasion had fired a gun through a bedroom window at a man who had been threatening to take away some of his heroin business. Reporters have also found several links between “Mr Suburban” and heroin dealers in Australia and Asia.