Celebrity drug case relies on bugging

Two of four men allegedly at the centre of a celebrity drug ring yesterday conceded there was enough evidence to put them on trial.

Wayne Jeffrey Beard of Christchurch, and another man whose name is suppressed but who also lives in Christchurch, maintained their not-guilty pleas, but conceded there was a case to answer on charges of possession of Ecstasy for supply and conspiring with Auckland businessman John Francis Waterworth to supply the drug.

The pair were remanded on bail to a High Court call-over on April 5.

Waterworth, 55, who also appeared at the Auckland District Court depositions hearing, is defending 28 charges over alleged possession and supply of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis.

A fourth defendant, Adamu Shazizi Awadhi, a 30-year-old mechanic from Albany, faces charges relating to the possession and supply of Ecstasy.

Yesterday Crown prosecutor Jonathan Down said 12 suspects - some with a "high public profile" - were originally arrested during the police's Operation Aqua, running between June and October.

Waterworth was the "one central figure" in a drug-dealing business alleged to have supplied MDMA (Ecstasy), methamphetamine, cannabis and cocaine in "large quantities", Mr Down said.

The police allege Awadhi supplied "bulk drugs" to Waterworth, who then resold them.

Auckland Drug Squad detective Geoff Baber yesterday said under cross examination the bulk of the police case would rely on evidence gleaned from bugs and tapped phones targeting Waterworth in June and July last year.

An application by the Herald to view four briefs of evidence to be handed up by Mr Baber was declined by Justices of the Peace Ken McKay and David Grove, after Mr Down said there were "some sensitivity issues".

It is understood names and details in the briefs could be the subject of future suppressions, court orders and pre-trial arguments.

Operation Aqua led to convictions for TV sports celebrity Marc Ellis, who was fined $300 after admitting he bought Ecstasy, and Auckland property developer David Henderson, who pleaded guilty to attempting to buy cocaine. He was convicted and given a suspended sentence.