Policeman bitten during raid

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 7

Policeman bitten during raid

PA Wellington A policeman was bitten on the hand by a man trying to swallow a quantity of cannabis at one of 27 Porirua addresses swooped on by the police when looking for drugs on Thursday morning.

The policeman was bitten as he pulled cannabis from the mouth of a man trying to “destroy the evidence” when the police arrived to execute a search warrant, said Detective SeniorSergeant Clive Plucknett, of the Porirua C. 1.8. A man was later arrested and had a charge of assault added to a drugs-related charge. The policeman was given a tetanus injection as a precaution, as was a fellow officer bitten by a dog’ when

the police searched another house, said Detective Senior-Sergeant Plucknett. He described the drug raid as very successful, resulting in 16 arrests, mostly on drug charges and the recovery of about $4OOO worth of property. The largest quantity of drugs found at one address was o.7kg of cannabis.

“We have taken out some of our major drug dealers here,” said Detective SeniorSergeant Plucknett. • “Porirua has a drug problem, as most places do, but we have got a high concentration of cannabis.”

Thirty police took part in the raid, which lasted from 5 a.m. until after 1 p.m. It had been planned for about a month.

Those arrested will appear in court next week.