Cancer fears for cop on drug charges

Photo / Sarah Ivey

A respected Kiwi ex-cop held in a Cook Islands prison is suffering from cancer.

The former senior detective, who led several high-profile investigations in New Zealand, is in Rarotonga's Arorangi Prison facing cannabis supply charges.

He was arrested in what local media are calling the "largest police operation of any kind" in Cook Islands history.

The man had only recently returned to the Cooks after spending time in Auckland receiving chemotherapy.

He was arrested along with 12 others who appeared in court on May 5 and 6 as part of an undercover investigation.

The Cook Island News reported that 13 people faced more than 55 charges.

A New Zealander among the accused told justice of the peace Bernice Manarangi that the other man had cancer and needed to contact his next of kin back home, the newspaper said.

"He wanted to talk to them in order to make arrangements for his medical treatment," it reported.

The Herald on Sunday has confirmed that the ill person mentioned was the Kiwi former officer.

His lawyer, Barry Hart, would say only that he was confident the man, with name suppression, would be allowed out on bail this week. The allegations against him were for "low level supply" of cannabis, and being in custody was "quite unpleasant" for him.

As a policeman, he was involved in the Marie Jamieson murder investigation and was part of the re-investigation into the David Dougherty rape case, culminating in Dougherty's conviction being quashed. He left the force in 2005.