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After more than a day of intercepted telephone conversations being played to a High Court jury in Christchurch, two accused have changed their pleas and admitted their part in a drug conspiracy.
The guilty pleas came on the third day of the Operation Dolmio drugs trial which began on Tuesday and was scheduled to last two weeks, Christchurch Court News website reports.
It means the trial will continue with three remaining accused all denying charges that they were part of a conspiracy that sourced methamphetamine in Auckland, transported it south, and retailed it to drug users in Christchurch.
The crown said that Aaron Russell Dickie, of Ellerslie, Auckland, was a wholesaler who provided the drugs.
He pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy charge today and crown prosecutor Anne Toohey got Justice John Fogarty's permission to withdraw the second charge he faced, possession of the class A drug for supply.
The other plea was from Darrin Stephen Baylis, of Christchurch, who, the crown said, had made regular trips to Auckland to contact Dickie and obtain the drug.
The pleas were taken in front of the jury, and both men were remanded on bail for sentencing on March 14.
- NZPA
