Dion Bennett: central district commander on the police efforts to crack down on illegal nitrous oxide sales

Police have carried out sting operations to crack down on illegal sales of nitrous oxide for recreational use - known as nangs.

Five retailers across the North Island have been charged under the Psychoactive Substances Act and could face prison time.

The canisters are meant to be used to whip cream.

Superintendent Dion Bennett says during the stings - it was clear customers were buying nangs for recreational use.

"We weren't dressed as bakers, we didn't represent ourselves as home bakers - it was obvious that we weren't there to buy nitrous oxide for baking purposes." 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now police have cracked down on the illegal sales of
nangs in the North Island. Retailer is in New Plymouth
and Howard Funganui, Palmeston North and Levina facing prosecution for
selling nitrous oxide for recreational use. Superintendent Dion Bennett is
the police district Commander for Central District and is with
us now. Hi, Dion, sure, Heather, how many retailers did
you bust?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Five? And that spread across a wide district Taranaki Wangnu
mon Toena and in that we visited a number of
retailers and it's unfortunate that at the moment that we
have five, we're working with them.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
How do you know that they were doing it for
recreational use and not for baking cakes.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
We did some controlled purchase operations. We weren't dressed as bakers,
We didn't represent ourselves as home bakers. It was obvious
that we weren't there to buy nitrous oxide for baking purposes.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
I don't know what you dress like to be a baker,
but like, what did you look like when you walked in?
Like how much vibe were you giving off that you
wanted to chuck it in a balloon? And suck it
down at a party.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Put it this way enough of a vibe that we've
taken an important and in a serious decision to prosecute
some retailers. At the end of the day, what we're
concerned about is the safety of the people who are
purchasing these names and using them. We know that it's

(01:38):
an issue in our community. Our communities are reporting it
to us, and we're responding to that.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Now. Am I right in thinking that you had gone
into these retailers beforehand and warned each of them in
turn that they shouldn't be selling it for recreational purposes?
And then the bust happened after that, which meant that
they just ignored you guys.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Right across that region. And we visited a number of
retailers and delivered them letters which outlined their responsibilities and
the issues that we face with names and the responsibility
of a retailer. And then we did go back and
we did try some controlled purchase operations to ensure that

(02:23):
the message is clearly getting through.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
And so what that means is that what they didn't
think that you guys were going to actually crack down
on it.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
I guess that's something for them to answer, but we
remained true to the reason that we were doing this
in the first place. And I think the most important
part is to prevent names being solved to people who
are using them for recreational for huffing, because we know
that the dangerous effects that names have on people.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Now, Dion, this is going to sound potentially heartless from me,
but in my mind, have a distinction between two types
of drugs, Right, So you have the drugs like nangs
where people are sucking them down and they're only really
hurting themselves and so I don't care if you want
to do that stuff. Do that. And then there's the
drugs like p where when they take them they actually
run the risk of hurting other people. Do you guys

(03:16):
make a distinction like that?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, what we look at then is the harm that's
caused by the knags, and there's some short term and
then the medical evidence clearly says there's some long term
harm caused. But probably more important for us is what
is the effect on the people when they are taking nags.
And we know that it's a depressant. We know that
it affects brain function and that slows down body responses,

(03:42):
and that's important for particularly if you've got people in
cars who might be using the scooters, bikes, even simply
walking somewhere. If people are using it incorrectly or for
huffing purposes, we know that it can be dangerous.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
How long do the effects last on I thought it
was about.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Thirty seconds, Yeah, that's that's what the Ministry of Health advices, as.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Well as are they huffing it while they're.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Driving potentially, So, I mean that's quite difficult to identify.
So I think we go right back to the cause,
the root of the issue, and work with our retailers
who have been fantastic by and large to work with
and prevent the names falling into the wrong hands or

(04:37):
being used for the wrong purposes.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
For more from Hither Duplassy Alan Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.