Man on three drug charges

Press, 11 February 1981, Page 3

Man on three drug charges

Aucklandj A Christchurch man, Mur-I ray James Ritchie, aged 25,1 a self-employed painter.! faces three charges of im-| porting drugs — LSD, - co-| caine, and cannabis leaf —■ when he appeared in the; District Court at Auckland; yesterday. Ritchie was remanded in; custody by Judge Aubin to : February’ 25 for a depos-: itions hearing. Ritchie was arrested on] Monday at Auckland Air- ‘ port, where customs officers i are alleged to have seized • more than 13,000 LSD; “tabs,” said to be worth'; 860.000, and about • l4og of! cocaine, said •to be. worth • about S7OOO. Customs officers were • yesterday’ still examining I baggage which had been! seized at the airport.Police from Auckland and Christchurch have been involved in the customs inquiry. In an unrelated ponce operation, 31 Aucklanders were arrested on a total of 85 drug and property charges, after an early-morn-ing swoop throughout Auck-i land yesterday. Detective Chief Inspector. R. N. Macdonald said “middle level” seizings of LSD, hashish, cannabis, and. prescription poisons had' been made by the 100 C. 1.8. and uniformed police on raids. An unspecified number of. houses had been visited and; most of them searched under I warrant when the police swoop began at 6 a.m. Mr Macdonald said yesterday that more arrests would be made in the next few days but this time-only in “dribs and drabs.” ... / Property recovered included a car stereo cassettes, photographic equipment, watches, antiques, clothing, and bicycles — a total value ; of about $20,000. Those arrested will appear in ■ -the District Court at j Auckland. Takapuna, and! Henderson today on charges of selling, supplying, deal-?: ing. cultivating, and pos-] sessing class A, 8.. and C> controlled drugs, plus burglary. receiving stolen pro-;. perty, and theft. H