16 Aug 2016

Northland meth cook jailed for 14 years

7:55 pm on 16 August 2016

A former engineer who helped his neighbour cook up one of the largest amounts of methamphetamine ever discovered in New Zealand has been sent to prison for more than 14 years.

Whangarei High and District Court

The High Court in Whangarei Photo: Ministry of Justice website

Mark James Lang, 42, was one of four cooks arrested during the raid of the industrial-scale lab in rural Whangarei in December 2014.

The three other cooks, who were all patched members of the Headhunters gang, are already serving sentences of between 15 and 19 years.

Lang attended barbeques and drinks at the gang's property and agreed to help manufacture the drug, later becoming addicted to it.

His lawyer argued he was never in control of the cooking process, but simply gave technical advice.

However Justice Moore said Lang was an intelligent, educated and perceptive person who knew exactly what he was getting involved in.

He sentenced him to 14 years and four months' imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of seven years and two months.