By - Northern AdvocateThe ringleader of the operation that produced the largest amount of methamphetamine ever cooked in New Zealand has been given the toughest prison sentence ever handed out in Northland. Brownie Harding, 38, pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland last June to six charges of manufacturing meth, two of conspiracy to supply meth, possession of meth for supply, supplying pseudoephedrine, and participating in an organised criminal group. Justice Simon Moore, in the High Court at Whangarei, rejected a Crown submission that Harding be given life imprisonment, as Harding had pleaded guilty, and had no previous convictions for manufacturing meth. However, he handed out the toughest prison sentence ever imposed in Northland of 28.5 years. A jury found him guilty of participating in an organised criminal group and two charges of manufacturing meth.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 07, 2017 00:11 UTC