Ten people arrested, $5 million of drugs seized in Operation Mystic. Video / Auckland City District Police
A former methamphetamine addict known to fellow criminals by his nickname "Massive" wiped at his eye with a tattooed arm this morning as a High Court at Auckland judge agreed to let him serve home detention for his role in a large-scale international drug syndicate.
Sam James Edmands pleaded guilty in November to participating in an organised criminal group and to refusing to provide the security pin for his mobile phone when police searched his Hillsborough home. He had faced up to 10 years' prison for the organised crime conviction.
The defendant was among those arrested in 2020 after an eight-month police investigation dubbed Operation Mystic, into what prosecutors have described as an "extremely large-scale drug importing and distribution syndicate". Authorities allege more than a tonne of methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine and ephedrine - valued at about $5 million - were smuggled into New Zealand over a three-year period.
But Edmands had a bit part in the scheme, and his drug addiction was his main motivation, defence lawyer Philip Hamlin told Justice Sally Fitzgerald today.
"This is a story of a man who fell from grace," Hamlin said. "He's recovered and he's put himself straight, mostly with the help of three women - his mother, his partner and his daughter.
"He's mature enough now to recognise he did wrong. His arrest is what put him back on the straight and narrow."
Authorities said Edmands' role in the organisation was a "catcher", allowing packages to be sent to his home that contained "considerable" amounts of cash - and, at least once, drugs - intended for the syndicate's alleged ringleader.
"In recognition of his contribution to the syndicate, Mr Edmands was provided methamphetamine in amounts of up to an ounce, along with relatively modest sums of cash," a summary of facts for the case states. "On occasion, he would also purchase similar amounts of methamphetamine."
More than $1m cash was seized in the police investigation Operation Mystic. Photo / Supplied
Police caught onto him after searches of his co-defendants found courier bags with the name "Massive" written on them alongside monetary amounts. Police also found packaging with his address on it and listened in as two suspects under surveillance mentioned receiving a package from Massive.
Police obtained a search warrant for his home shortly thereafter and found two white envelopes with "Massive" and "M" written on them in packaging used by the drug syndicate, as well as drug paraphernalia and a set of digital scales, court documents state.
Crown prosecutor Ben Kirkpatrick did not oppose Hamlin's suggestion that Edmands serve his home detention instead of prison.
"Other people can see the change in the man," Hamlin said, noting that his client was enrolled to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering this month if allowed by the court to do so. "He's looking forward to a different life and he realises he's been going the wrong way."
Justice Fitzgerald agreed that Edmands appeared to have put his life back together in the two years since his arrest. At the time of his arrest, she noted, he had been reportedly using up to 2 grams of methamphetamine a day.
Edmands put his hands together and bowed in thanks as her sentence - eight months' home detention - was announced.
"This should be a watershed moment for you and your life," Fitzgerald said. "Make sure that change sticks."
Edmands' court appearance comes seven months after the sentencing of co-defendant Mirtha Susan Ramos Mazuela - a dental hygienist originally from Chile who said she only participated in the drug trade to be closer to her son, Hugo Patricio Alarcon Ramos, who has been described as the syndicate's top lieutenant in New Zealand.
Mazuela was ordered to serve 11 years and six months in prison in July after pleading guilty to 12 charges involving importing, selling and possessing methamphetamine, cocaine, ephedrine and MDMA, as well as one additional charge of possessing materials for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Her son was sentenced to 12 years in prison in September 2020.
Pleading guilty alongside Edmands in November was another co-defendant, Peter Dong Hae Kim, who could face up to life imprisonment on a representative charge of possessing methamphetamine for sale. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
Several other co-defendants still await trial, including the alleged kingpin of the operation.
