Himatjit Kahlon has pleaded not guilty after being charged with the manslaughter of innocent 21-year-old Aiden Sagala. Video / NZ Herald
Crown lawyers say the man charged over the fatal meth-laced beer case was “not blind” to what was happening at an Auckland unit where police seized hundreds of kilos of methamphetamine.
Himatjit Kahlon, 40, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland accused of the manslaughter of 21-year-old Aiden Sagala.
Kahlon has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, possessing methamphetamine for supply and possessing cocaine for supply between January 7 and March 14, 2023.
Himatjit Kahlon in the dock at the Auckland High Court accused of the manslaughter of Aiden Sagala who died after drinking beer laced with methamphetamine. Photo / Supplied
Crown lawyer Pip McNabb told the court Kahlon, who worked with Sagala at Fonterra, gave him dozens of free beers, some of which contained liquid methamphetamine.
Sagala, an innocent victim, died on March 7 after taking a few sips from one of the cans he was given.
In her opening address, McNabb told the court Kahlon admitted he’d been at a unit in Manukau when pallets of distinctive blue cans branded as “Honey Bear” were dropped off, and that he’d been buying equipment for the unit.
She said Khalon also admitted seeing some of the liquid from the cans being manufactured into solid form.
But Kahlon’s defence lawyer Emma Priest argued her client had “no idea” methamphetamine was inside some of the cans, and that he “blindly trusted” another man who’s pleaded guilty to drugs charges.
When asked about a “solution” the man who pleaded guilty was making at the unit, McNabb said Kahlon said, “it must have something to do with cocktail making.”
The Crown alleges Kahlon knew some of the cans contained methamphetamine.
‘He was involved in this process when there were white crystals on the floor and buckets, and bins, and bags.”
“The Crown case is that Mr Kahlon knew this had nothing to do with cocktails,” McNabb told the court.
‘My brother turned blue’
Aiden Sagala's sister Angela Sagala in the High Court at Auckland giving evidence in the trial of Himatjit Kahlon. Photo / Supplied
The sister of Aiden Sagala says her brother became agitated and “turned blue” when he collapsed at home after unknowingly consuming one of the meth-laced cans of beer on March 2, 2023.
Angela Sagala told the court her partner Billy Anelusi - who was with her brother at home at the time - phoned her to say Aiden had become agitated after drinking from the can.
“He called me, and I could hear my brother in the background screaming, calling out my mum’s name,” she told the court.
“I sped through a lot of red lights” to get home, she said.
Once home, Angela, a physician at North Shore Hospital, said Sagala was on the floor and Anelusi was trying to calm him down. “He was really agitated and in a fit”
She said an ambulance was called four or five times before it arrived more than an hour after the first triple 1 call.
“My brother turned blue. I knew he had taken something, or it was an overdose,” Angela Sagala told the court.
Angela began CPR on her brother before paramedics took over when they arrived on the scene.
On the way to the hospital, Angela Sagala said her brother went into cardiac arrest.
‘Like he was possessed’
Aiden Sagala died after drinking beer contaminated with methamphetamine. picture supplied
Anelusi told the court Sagala ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth after trying the beer and returned to ask his brother-in-law, “do beers taste salty?”
Anelusi said they should not and tried the can Sagala was drinking from.
“My first reaction was to spit it out. It had a salty, chemical taste. I brushed my teeth two or three times. It took a minute or two to get rid of the taste,” he said.
Sagala had a shower and when he came out Anelusi said he appeared upset.
“He came storming out looking at us and said, I’m about to die,” he told the court.
“He looked like he was about to turn into a statue.”
Billy Anelusi was with Aiden Sagala at home the night he collapsed after drinking a meth-laced beer.
POOL picture supplied
Anelusi told the court Kahlon came to visit him at his home when Aiden was in hospital to try and retrieve the remaining beers from his house.
”It was strange. He messaged asking if he could come over to talk. He drove into the driveway and was saying he felt guilty about something which I still didn’t understand,” he said.
Anelusi told the court he asked him to stay calm, and Kahlon responded by asking “do you still have the beers.”
”He didn’t come over to talk about Aiden. He came over for those beers,” he said.
Meth level ‘off the charts’
Aiden Sagala of Auckland died after drinking beer allegedly contaminated with methamphetamine. Photo / supplied
The methamphetamine level in Sagala’s body when he died of an overdose after consuming the drug was “off the charts”, according to Crown lawyer Pip McNabb.
On the evening when Sagala cracked open a can he told his brother-in-law Anelusi the contents “tasted salty”.
Anelusi tried the beer and “spat it out” because it had a chemical taste, according to McNabb.
Sagala later suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
Five days later, on March 7, he died from what the Crown today said was a “significant” methamphetamine overdose.
The meth levels were “off the charts” according to McNabb.
The Crown alleges Kahlon’s fingerprints were later found on several items inside an industrial unit on Ryan Place in Manukau, where police found thousands of cans.
McNabb said Kahlon tried to get rid of the “worthless” cans that didn’t contain methamphetamine by giving them to friends and family.
The Crown’s case is that Kahlon “did not take reasonable care or precaution” to ensure the cans didn’t contain methamphetamine.
“He failed to discharge his duty and is criminally responsible” for Sagala’s death, McNabb told the court.
A ‘community-minded man’
Cans of the Honey Bear House Beer, some of which were laced with meth, were seized by police from a warehouse on Ryan Pl, Manukau. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Kahlon’s lawyer, Emma Priest, told the court her client was a “community-minded man” who had “no idea” methamphetamine was in the cans provided to Sagala.
She said Kahlon, also known as Jimmy Kahlon, was exploited by another man, who has admitted drugs charges in relation to the importation scheme which saw thousands of the cans imported into New Zealand.
Priest claimed Kahlon was taken advantage of by “one of the very worst”.
Priest said her client was a family man who worked at Fonterra as a team leader and always wanted to help others.
“Jimmy Kahlon’s blind faith in people meant he had no idea what [the co-accused] had pulled him into, and had no idea meth was in the Honey Bear that killed his workmate,” she said.
Sagala’s death was a “terrible accident with the most tragic of outcomes”, she said.
Sagala’s death sparked Operation Lavender, a wider investigation into an alleged methamphetamine importation operation, as well as a warning to the public not to consume cans labelled Honey Bear House Beer – packaged in a distinctive red and blue aluminium can with imagery of a bear and a maple leaf.
