About two pounds of dried cannabis head was found when police searched the vehicle.
The driver’s phone was also searched, and as a result, a search warrant was obtained for Woodrow’s address.
Woodrow confessed to police that he had cannabis growing in his wool shed.
“Located was a well organised and commercial cannabis growing operation utilising a three-stage operation,” the summary states.
The three-stage growing method is used to provide an ongoing and regular supply of cannabis.
Located in the cutting and drying rooms were cannabis at various stages of the growth process as well as fans, multiple LED heat lamps, thermometers and humidity gauges, mixtures and additives, and electronic timers for the heat lamps.
The amount of cannabis head recovered at the address weighed three pounds, 5.8 ounces, and the defendant selling it for $5000 per pound.
Indicators showed the operation was yielding towards the higher end of potential plant and demonstrated a level of expertise, the summary states.
When added to the cannabis found in the associate’s vehicle the total equated to $25,600 worth.
Woodrow’s phone showed evidence of offers to supply cannabis, with a message on March 1, 2019 offering two pounds and another on October 8 also finalising a sale to someone in Te Anau.
As a result of the offending, the Commissioner of Police applied for a restraining order on the property at 766 Gore-Mataura Highway, a 2017 Ford Ranger and $10,000 owned by Woodrow and Veronica Cope.
In a decision released by Justice Jonathan Eaton it states: “The orders are sought on the basis there are reasonable grounds to believe that the property is “tainted property” and/or that the respondents have unlawfully benefited from significant criminal activity”.
It also requests the restraining order is done on a without notice basis saying the property may be disposed of or concealed easily as there is no mortgage owed on the property.
“A without notice restraining order will preserve the value in the property pending the hearing of an on notice application.”
Justice Eaton states he is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe the specified property is “tainted” and that Woodrow and Cope have unlawfully benefited from significant criminal activity.
“I refer particularly to Mr Woodrow having been charged and pleaded guilty to the cannabis charges. Further, I rely on the evidence of unexplained cash spending, unexplained deposits, the associated accumulation of assets, each of which I find is consistent with the respondents benefiting from the proceeds of dealing in cannabis.”
However he deemed there was no urgency associated with an early sale order in relation to the property.
karen.pasco@odt.co.nz
