By Shannon Pitman, Open Justice reporter of 
Whangārei District Court. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
A 19-year-old was caught red-handed - with dye-stained palms - after helping uplift almost a kilogram of methamphetamine, landing him behind bars for his role in a drug importation ring.
Grayson Erihe-Riwhi recently appeared in the Whangārei District Court for sentencing on one charge of importation of a class A drug, namely methamphetamine.
The court heard Erihe-Riwhi's upbringing was steeped in gangs, violence and drugs. After some time away, he had returned to Whangārei, only to find himself drawn back into the same troubled environment.
In May 2024, New Zealand Customs intercepted a package imported from Spain, destined for an address in Morningside, Whangārei.
Customs detected an anomaly while X-raying the package, which had been declared as clothing garments.
Inside the box was a backpack and a toilet bag, which they suspected had been tampered with.
The lining of the backpack revealed layers of foam, which concealed a plastic zip-lock bag containing white crystals. The combined weight was 941g of methamphetamine.
Police conducted inquiries as to who lived at the address the package was destined for and discovered the recipient's name was fake.
However, further inquiries revealed one of the occupants at the address was 30-year-old Liam Lomas.
On 6 June 2024, police and customs officers carried out a controlled delivery with a placebo package similar in appearance to meth and placed a substance on the package that would leave dye on the recipient's hands.
About 1pm, Lomas and Erihe-Riwhi arrived at the Morningside address and uplifted the package.
A tracking device inside the package alerted police that it was in transit to an address in Tikipunga, Whangārei.
Lomas and Erihi-Riwhi took the package to a garage at the rear of the property, dismantled the placebo and then put it into a large plastic container.
Returning to the vehicle with the container, they reversed out of the driveway, but police intercepted their car.
Lomas ran to the rear of the property, and threw a Walther pistol and ammunition under the house, and a cellphone over the fence.
The pair were both found to have dye on their hands and were arrested.
Some $50,000 in cash was also found under the passenger seat of the car and Erihe-Riwhi had $1900 on him.
Both were charged with importation of meth, while Lomas also faced possession for supply of ecstasy and meth. He was recently sentenced to nine years' imprisonment.
At Erihe-Riwhi's sentencing, lawyer Mathew Ridgley said his client had seen a chance to make money, without considering the longer-term consequences.
"He gets the phone call, he won't say who from, he's told 'meet this man, deliver to an address'," Ridgley told the court.
"He's told to go to an address, pick up the package, you bring it back, you drive me here and you drive me there.
"It was a dumb decision and, in my submission, dumb decisions are seldom made in a vacuum."
Ridgley said Erihe-Riwhi was aware of the harm his offending was doing to the community, but Judge Gene Tomlinson said he did not buy that from a 19-year-old.
Crown lawyer Eilish O'Connor said Erihe-Riwhi knew the extent of what he was getting involved in.
"This is not impulsive offending," O'Connor said. "Not only is he involved in transporting, he's been involved in dismantling the package and repacking it.
"The driver seems to be - in this case, to put it bluntly - financial gain."
Judge Tomlinson acknowledged Lomas was the lead offender in the importation charges and Erihe-Riwhi was doing as he was told by those further up the gang hierarchy.
"You have been inculpated, meaning you were right in there in that criminal background," Judge Tomlinson said.
"You can't make any other choices, because that's who you are and that's what you want to do, and that's really sad.
"Were you more mature, older than 25, you would have looked at it and thought 'That's a dumb idea'."
Erihe-Riwhi was sentenced to four years and six months' imprisonment.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
