KEY POINTS:
Two Whangarei men charged with importing the party drug Fantasy were acquitted on all but one charge and a third person walked free on all charges.
Glen Raymond Adams, 32, Kaelib Hansen, 31, of Whangarei, and Simon Page, 38, had been on trial in the Whangarei District Court on charges of importing gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) from Japan.
Adams faced four counts of importing the drug, Page two and Hansen one.
They also faced alternative charges of possessing GBL for supply, which they also denied.
After deliberating for eight hours, the jury acquitted Page on all charges and found Adams and Hansen guilty on just one charge of importing a barrel of GBL between October 28, 2005, and January 12 last year.
That charge related to the fourth drum, which Adams and Hansen collected from Auckland and buried at Hansen's property in Cemetery Rd.
That barrel had been intercepted by Customs and was tracked by police.
During the trial, the Crown alleged Adams was the ringleader who ordered the four 220-litre barrels between January 2004 and January 2006 with the assistance of Page and Adams.
Page allegedly provided a business address for two of the barrels to be delivered to and signed for one of the deliveries.
He claimed he was just doing a favour for Adams and didn't know the drug was illegal, let alone what it was to be used for.
The jury, in reaching its verdicts, accepted that explanation.
Adams and Hansen claimed they did not know the drug was illegal and that it was to be used in the construction industry.
But the Crown argued that the pair's secretive behaviour, which involved coded telephone and text messages and the fact the last drum was buried with all its labels removed, suggested they knew it was an illegal drug.
A relieved Page walked from the dock after the verdicts were delivered.
Adams and Hansen were remanded in custody by Judge Roy Wade for sentencing on November 16.
- Northern Advocate
