New Zealand drug dealer caught by tsunami warning

When the tsunami warning came, Richard Carlson knew he had to get his cannabis stash to higher ground. So he had nearly 8kg of the drug in his car when police spotted his broken tail light and pulled him over.

Judge Adeane said Carlson's vehicle was stopped on September 30 on the corner of Te Araroa and Waiomatitini Roads, just south of Te Araroa township, where police found 7.9kg of cannabis in 15 plastic bags. Carlson said he was moving the cannabis because of a tsunami warning. The cannabis was mouldy but would have been worth $40,000 in good condition.



Crown prosecutor Jo Rielly said the cannabis was not in good condition. There was no evidence of sales and police were not looking for Carlson. It had been a random arrest. Carlson was relocating the cannabis and there was an element of hoarding.

"It defies rational explanation. These facts, with respect, could only happen on the East Coast," Judge Tony Adeane said in Gisborne District Court yesterday. The facts lay "between irony and farce", said the judge. Richard Toihau Carlson, 57, pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis for supply and was sentenced to 12 months home detention.