DRUG-BUYING TRIPS TURN SOUR IN STING

Cannabis customers, many wearing school uniform, had a nasty surprise when
they entered a Rotorua drug supermarket on Friday - a posse of police.

In just over an hour, 19 would-be buyers arrived at the Koutu Rd house,
where they were greeted at the door by a policeman in plain clothes who
obligingly answered their questions before directing them inside.

Once inside, detectives pounced, and the visitors were handcuffed before
being corralled on the property's back lawn and carted off by the
paddy-wagon-load.

The arrests - so many that the police team nearly ran out of handcuffs -
came after detectives searched the house for drugs, said Detective Sergeant
Dennis Murphy.

It soon became obvious it was a "drug supermarket" as carloads of people,
many in school uniform, arrived to buy a "tinnie or two", Mr Murphy said.

Three wagon-loads of cannabis shoppers were taken to the Rotorua police
station.

"At one stage we were running out of handcuffs and room to put them in," Mr
Murphy said.

"Their cars were all backed up in the driveway. We called it Operation
Bermuda [after the Bermuda triangle] because all the cars still had the
motors running but there were no people in them," Mr Murphy said.

Within 10 minutes of the operation's start, 10 arrests had been made. From
then on an average of about one person approached the house every three or
four minutes, Mr Murphy said.

Police intelligence indicated the steady stream of people arriving at the
house was normal for any weekday.

The biggest concern was that many of the buyers were high school students,
most of whom were still in uniform, he said.

More than 30 "tinnies" of cannabis were found at the house.

The operation was conducted after residents, concerned about the number and
type of people constantly arriving at the house, complained to police.

'They were feeling intimidated and they believed the activity of this house
has had a serious impact on their quality of life," Mr Murphy said.

"This is something the police take very seriously. One of the main aims of
the police is to make sure the quality of life of the public is not
affected by the activities of criminals."

A total of 23 arrests were made, including 19 for attempting to buy cannabis.

One person was arrested and charged with obstructing police after allegedly
trying to warn people arriving at the house about the police operation.

Two men and one woman were charged with possessing cannabis for supply. One
of those men was also charged with allowing a premises to be used to sell
cannabis.

They will all appear in Rotorua District Court next week.