New Zealand - Man jailed for gang P-dealing

OFF THE WIRE
BY: JIMMY ELLINGHAM
 stuff.co.nz



Though he was described as playing a central role in a methamphetamine ring, Nathan Jon Bush was hardly living a life of luxury at the time of his arrest.
Instead, he was living with his mother in Feilding.
Caught up in police drug bust Operation Stamp, Bush, 38, was sentenced yesterday in Palmerston North District Court to 6½ years' prison on a charge of conspiring to deal methamphetamine.
He was also ordered to forfeit a car worth about $3000, a $10,000 Harley Davidson bike and $15,380 cash found at the time of his arrest.
Bush's involvement was uncovered as police intercepted text messages and taped phone calls between last September 1 and February 10 this year.
Mostly he acted as a delivery man or courier.
A former Nomad gang member, Bush had become a patched member of the Rebels, an Australian motorcycle gang that set up a New Zealand chapter late last year, Judge Gerard Lynch said.
In November, Bush was involved in organising a drug deal with the Nomads, who traded P for a Harley Davidson motorbike. Bush then delivered the drugs to Foxton.
In January, Bush was to have picked up some pre-cursor mix in Auckland to deliver to a manufacturer in Hamilton, but had car trouble.
"Bush has a central role in what was a large methamphetamine network," Judge Lynch said.
Defence lawyer Peter Coles admitted Bush knew a great deal about the drug ring, but said his knowledge was in excess of his standing.
Bush also supplied street dealers around Palmerston North and Feilding, including Tepiwa Riwai who was jailed for two years and two months.
The names of Bush's other co-conspirators were suppressed, as their cases had not been resolved yet.
A pre-sentence report found Bush regretted his involvement with drugs and was no longer involved with the Rebels.
It also said Bush's family was "angry and hurt" by his offending but was sticking by him.
"You feel guilty and embarrassed about being in court and in the paper, and your family's disgusted," the judge said.
"Methamphetamine is a pernicious drug that wreaks havoc in our community."
Operation Stamp involved 150 police officers, who in February arrested 30 people allegedly connected to drug and stolen-property activities throughout the North Island.

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