Operation Skipjack: Man who bought car spraying chemicals to make GBL jailed

Operation Skipjack was an investigation by Wellington Police into the importation and supply of the Class B controlled drug Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL) and the class C controlled drug Eutylone. Photo / NZ Police

A drug addict who bought large quantities of chemicals claiming he was repainting cars has been jailed for manufacturing the drugs fantasy and methamphetamine.

Harry Penman’s offending related to large quantities of resin remover he was buying to strip paint from cars for his motor vehicle spraying business in 2019 and 2020.

During a 15-month period, Penman was involved in purchasing 987 litres of bulk resin remover, which police estimated had a street value of between $987,000 and $1.5 million. The resin remover contains 50-80 per cent Gamma Butyrolactone or GBL, also known as “fantasy”. It’s sold through certified distributors.

All the purchases were invoiced to Penman’s HP Custom Refinishing Company Limited and sent to his Lower Hutt address.

Penman was arrested as part of a joint customs investigation between NZ Customs and police into the importation and supply of GBL, known as Operation Skipjack.

When police executed search warrants of Penman’s properties in Cambridge and Auckland they found clandestine laboratories, including drugs and equipment to make GBL or methamphetamine.

Earlier this month, Penman was sentenced in the Wellington District Court on six charges including manufacturing the drug class B drug GBL, two charges of possessing GBL for supply, manufacturing the class A drug methamphetamine, possession of a precursor substance and possession of equipment.

Sentencing Penman Judge Peter Hobbs said this was a case where there was clearly planning and premeditation.

But he also accepted that Penman was a drug addict who had used methamphetamine from a young age. By the age of 18 when Penman was sent to jail, he was already dealing methamphetamine to feed his daily habit of a gram of methamphetamine and large quantities of GBL. He had also joined the Mongrel Mob but has since left the gang.

He has overdosed four times on GBL and two of those may have been suicide attempts, the judge said.

But the judge also noted the quantities involved clearly went beyond feeding Penman’s own habit.

“It was clearly a commercial operation. However, I do not doubt that but for your addiction to these drugs, you were unlikely to be involved in this kind of offending and appellate courts require me to recognise that addiction.”

“You also need to understand that my job is to acknowledge the harm that these sorts of drugs do in our community and that is why there needs to be sentences of imprisonment for people who get themselves involved in commercial dealing these sorts of drugs.”

The judge noted others who were sentenced for their part in Operation Skipjack had starting points ranging from five and a half to 10 and a half years in jail.

Judge Hobbs jailed Penman for five years and six months.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media advisor at the Ministry of Justice.