14 Dec 2016

Drug kingpin jailed for more than 12 years

5:12 pm on 14 December 2016

A Wellington man who created a drug ring which distributed methamphetamine between Rotorua and Christchurch has been jailed for 12 and a half years.

Clint Helmbright was sentenced in the High Court in Wellington this morning on 38 charges, including supplying methamphetamine and selling cannabis and BZP.

He was found to have run a network of 15 dealers, which included his own son and daughter.

Justice Denis Clifford said Helmbright's drug dealing had something of an unreal nature to it and he appeared to have become involved in a world that was outside his own control.

He said the defendant gave himself a role of importance in the organisation, and almost had delusions of grandeur in the way he operated.

The Crown said the offending was a sophisticated enterprise in which Helmbright established roading and health companies to mask his drug dealing.

Helmbright's lawyer said his client had worked incredibly hard and helped a lot of people, but things changed when his business failed.