Man jailed for drugs conspiracy

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 28

Man jailed for drugs conspiracy

A man described as having been involved in the planning and setting up of a scheme to import buprenorphine (temgesic) tablets worth nearly $500,000 on the drug market, was jailed yesterday for 3 l / 2 years. Christopher Patrick Boon, aged 30, a company director, had pleaded guilty, before a scheduled trial by jury was to have taken place in the District Court, to a charge of conspiring with four other persons to import buprenorphine, a class C controlled drug.

The conspiracy related to Christchurch and other places in New Zealand, between May 1 and July 10 last year.

A woman who carried the 14,870 buprenorphine tablets into New Zealand, and who pleaded guilty to their importation, was

jailed in the High Court last October for 3y 2 years. The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld this sentence but she was released after serving only a few weeks in prison, because of the pending birth of her child.

Judge Fraser said when sentencing Boon yesterday that although the woman was charged with an offence carrying a greater maximum prison sentence than for Boon’s offence, he regarded Boon as more blameworthy in his role of planning and setting up the large-scale drug importation. Defence counsel, Mr Nigel Hampton, had sought a non-custodial sentence.

He said that by Boon’s plea of guilty he had saved the Crown $40,000 in travel and accommodation costs for bringing witnesses from Singapore or

Thailand. Mr Hampton explained the financial difficulties which befell Boon as a result of the share market crash in 1987.

He said his offending was an act of desperation and a response to the disastrous financial situation he had got himself into.

Boon had visited Eastern countries for his legitimate business interests and did not intend to engage in drug trafficking. He had dealt in importing cosmetics and related products, and for that purpose he went to Thailand to arrange purchases. While in Thailand he learnt that temgesic tablets were lawfully available.

He made arrangements on impulse and in desperation to buy tablets

for SNZ9OOO. He realised what he was doing was wrong but in his own mind he justified it because of his adverse financial pressures. It offered him a way out of what must have seemed an intolerable situation. He believed that he could obtain $lO each for the tablets in New Zealand, and saw this as a way to recoup at least some of the losses he, and through him his parents, had incurred.

Mr Hampton said Boon bitterly regretted his actions, and his having involved others in the importation scheme. He said up to six employees could lost their livelihoods if Boon could not continue the business he had built up. The Judge said a community-based sentence would not be ade-

quate or appropriate, in spite of the mitigating circumstances advanced on Boon’s behalf, given the nature and scale of his offence.

His scheme was a largescale one deliberately embarked on for financial profit. The 14,870 tablets imported were said to have a value of $35 each if sold in the drug underworld — a total of nearly $500,000 from the consignment. Referring to the fact that Boon expected to receive only $lO a tablet, the Judge said it was a matter of speculation what might have occurred if the drugs had not been detected.

The important point, he said, was that the ultimate effect was that nearly 15,000 tablets, worth nearly $500,000, would have been on the market in New Zealand.

Boon had played a big part in organising and setting up the scheme for this importation. SIX MONTHS JAIL Six months jail was imposed on Haden Joseph Sparrow, aged 18, when he appeared for sentence on a charge of possessing 391 g of cannabis for sale on March 21.

He had pleaded guilty to the charge, before a scheduled trial by jury was to have taken place. The charge arose from the police’s finding the cannabis, a set of scales, and plastic bags in his premises. Counsel, Mr Kevin Searle, had sought a sentence of periodic detention.

The Judge said the offence had occurred while Sparrow was under supervision from the Court, for a previous drug offence.