13-05-2025
Northland's ‘Gandalf' charged with cannabis oil supply, risks 14-year jail term
Smith, 66, was arrested in March on three charges of cultivating, supplying and possession of cannabis after a police raid on his Far North home.
Cannabis is considered a class C controlled drug and comes with a maximum penalty of eight years.
At that hearing he pleaded not guilty, elected a trial by jury and was granted bail to a case review hearing which was adjourned from April until this week.
When he entered the dock and police announced there were three new charges, his lawyer Mark Edgar, who appeared via audio visual link from Auckland, advised they knew nothing of them.
The three new charges relate to the cultivation, supply and possession of cannabis oil to a person in New Plymouth on May 2, 2024 and February 25, 2025.
Edgar told the court disclosure from the initial charges had been slow coming from the police and requested a further case review date.
Judge Taryn Bayley agreed Smith needed more time to give instructions to his lawyer and advised that all the charges are 'connected by time, place and circumstance'.
Cannabis oil is a class B controlled drug and each charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years.
Smith told NZME as he was leaving court 'the police are just trying to f*** with me'.
Smith will next appear in the Whangārei District Court in July.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
