Three addresses were searched in the suburbs of Whangārei uncovering cash, ammunition and a small quantity of methamphetamine. Photo / NZ Police
Three addresses were searched in the suburbs of Whangārei uncovering cash, ammunition and a small quantity of methamphetamine. Photo / NZ Police
Three people at the heart of a methamphetamine operation, including one woman who is pregnant with her seventh child, are now facing the repercussions after their covert drug operation was brought to light.
The crackdown in 2021 targeted addresses across Whangārei in Raumanga, Onerahi, and the Avenues, revealing the clandestine methamphetamine operation and culminating in the swift arrests of the three individuals.
The trio were initially set for a jury trial last year but on the week of the scheduled trial, after extensive negotiations with the Crown, opted to plead guilty to reduced charges.
Harvey Paraha, 55, from Kauri, Sarah Elizabeth Hill, 34, of Kaitāia, and Paul Gillespie, 43, of Glen Eden pleaded guilty on September 16, 2023, and their matters were finalised at sentencing last week in the Whangārei District Court.
Harvey Paraha pleaded guilty to possessing 3.5 grams of methamphetamine, possession of a pump-action shotgun, possession of a side-by-side shotgun, and possession of ammunition.
Between August 2, 2021, and August 10, 2021, Paraha supplied meth to a user on several occasions totalling 3.25 grams and police located shotguns and ammunition at a lockup in Onerahi.
Defence lawyer, Connor Taylor said his client played a lesser role in the group, supplying small amounts to people who would come over to smoke with him.
“There was no financial gain. He’s ashamed of his actions and is a man who has turned his life around,” Taylor said.
Due to his lesser role in the organisation and his successful rehabilitation while on bail, Paraha was sentenced to ten months of home detention.
Items from a meth lab were seized by police at an Onerahi address in 2021. Photo / NZ Police
Sarah Elizabeth Hill, described by Judge John McDonald as the ‘class one meth dealer’ of the group, was initially facing 105 charges but after negotiations pleaded guilty to 26 charges of supplying methampetamine and one of money laundering.
Her role was uncovered by police after data on two of her mobile phones revealed drug deals totalling 92 grams of meth from February 9, 2021.
A police order on the beneficiary’s bank account in April 2021 also revealed substantial cash deposits, with $108,000 deposited into her account from January 1, 2020, to April 13, 2021.
Of this, $76,000 was identified as coming from meth sales.
Judge McDonald said it was clear she was a ‘level one meth dealer’ and her transactions escalated over a short period.
“It is abundantly plain you were ready, willing and able to sell to anyone.
“It started small, half a gram for $300 but then increased, and remarkably so. Two grams for $800, three grams, four grams, seven grams and on it went.
“You were not supplying to just a user, you were supplying to the next level who were breaking it up and onselling it.
“You have added to the misery in Northland, particularly here in Whangārei,” Judge McDonald said.
Hill, currently pregnant, told report writers she was still using methamphetamine and her dealing was motivated by her addiction.
“It pains me you are soon to be a mother of a seventh child and I would have thought a mother would not want her children growing up in a society with meth.
“Justice has two sides, it’s not all about you. You are a class one meth drug dealer and you did not care.”
Judge McDonald sentenced Hill to three years and five months’ imprisonment.
Crown lawyer Danette Cole said it was clear through his management of people, that Paul Gillespie was the organiser of the operation and played the most significant role.
The 43-year-old from Glen Eden pleaded guilty to two charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, four charges of possession of equipment, one of possession for supply and one of supplying methamphetamine.
Gillespie was found to have supplied 115 grams of methampetamine and had another 18 grams on him when he was arrested.
Judge McDonald said Gillespie had a long history of addiction that fueled his offending but had since been successful at rehabilitation while he had been on bail.
“Methamphetamine is rife in our community and it destroys people’s lives,” Judge McDonald said.
Gillespie was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
