KEY POINTS:
Police are hoping the lure of $50,000 will lead someone to reveal who killed a drug dealer named Granite.
Grant Trevor Adams, nicknamed Granite, who also used the surnames Corbett and Hayes, disappeared from Tauranga at the end of 2005 and is believed to have been murdered.
Police yesterday announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the 29-year-old's death.
Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said people in the criminal fraternity were openly discussing the murder.
"I hope that by offering a reward of this amount we will encourage some of those people to approach the police," he said.
The encouragement extended to those who may have been involved in the killing.
"If there is any person who hasn't physically killed Granite, but may be a party or an accessory to the murder, I do have the ability to make application to the Solicitor-General for immunity from prosecution."
Police began investigating Adams' disappearance after he was reported missing by his mother in April last year.
He was a manufacturer and seller of methamphetamine and had gang connections in Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
He moved from Napier to Tauranga the month before his disappearance, and police were told he was killed for ripping off another drug dealer.
They are now treating the death as a homicide and went public in a quest for information on June 5, saying they did not know who was responsible for the murder or where the body was buried.
As a result of inquiries in the past two weeks, detectives now believe Adams was killed in the Bay of Plenty.
The last known sighting of him had been at his flat on Hayes Ave, Tauranga, but Mr Turner said new information revealed he stayed at a house in the city's 17th Ave later in November 2005.
Police executed a search warrant on the 17th Ave property on June 7.
A 53-year-old man was questioned by police but not charged, and Mr Turner said he was not a suspect.
Acting Police Commissioner Lyn Provost also posted a notice of the $50,000 reward yesterday.
The notice said the commissioner would, if necessary, split the money if there was more than one claimant. The reward is being offered until December 31.
* Anyone with information on the murder is asked to contact "Operation Granite" staff at Tauranga police on (07) 577-4300, or 0800 Speakup (0800 773-2587).
