'Masterclass' drug kingpin jailed

Zebulin Mario Davoren, 28, went on the run during a jury trial in the High Court at Auckland in October last year. Photo / Supplied

A drug kingpin, whose skill in running a large-scale methamphetamine ring was described by the Crown as a "masterclass", has been jailed for 18 and a half years.

Zebulin Mario Davoren, 28, went on the run during a jury trial in the High Court at Auckland in October last year. A jury found him guilty in his absence on 31 counts of serious drug offending.

The father of two was finally found "hunkered down" with his girlfriend Sophia Wilson on the outskirts of Hamilton earlier this month after police intercepted communications which gave him away.

Today, Justice Kit Toogood imposed the prison term with a minimum non-parole period of more than nine years."You treated yourself well on the proceeds of other people's misery," he said."Your expression of remorse comes, at this stage, far too late."Davoren was one of 25 people convicted after authorities executed Operation Jericho, which was triggered by the explosion of a clandestine meth lab in the Auckland suburb of Glendene in December, 2011.

Justice Toogood accepted Davoren was "the most deeply and actively involved" of the group and said he was responsible for manufacturing more than $500,000 of the class-A drug and handling $625,000 of precursor ingredients.However, the defendant's lawyer Simon Lance objected to his client being portrayed as a criminal mastermind.

"This was no masterclass; this was rather amateur hour, in my submission," he said."There were explosions and there were significant issues with how they went about things."The criminal enterprise was so lucrative to the group those at the top of the hierarchy spent large amounts of cash on American muscle cars, travel, jewellery and gold bars.

Sophie Wilson. Photo / NZ Police

But Mr Lance said that was not the case for Davoren, who he believed drove a small Toyota. He said going on the run was something his client did not think through."He panicked, he was scared about what was going to happen to him and he made a foolish decision on the spur of the moment," Mr Lance said.

"His girlfriend was pregnant and he didn't want to bear the thought of being in jail when the baby was born and not being there for the birth of the baby."The plan failed and absconding meant his partner Wilson was also jailed for more than two years rather than being given home detention.Their baby will be born in prison.