Stomachs on legs are proud to present

From the amazing newspaper that is the NZ Herald.

A chef will give evidence in a High Court trial in Christchurch New Zealand to support the crown's view that when alleged drug dealers were talking about the ingredients for whitebait patties, they were really discussing preparing methamphetmine for sale.

Two months of telephone tapping, interception of text messages, and surveillance under the police's Operation Dolmio has led to five people being on trial on charges of conspiracy to supply the class A drug.
The phone intercepts include the surprise query by one accused dealer asking how much "flour and sugar" to use for whitebait patties.

Another of the alleged conspirators tells him to use one egg and 8g of whitebait for 10 patties.
Crown prosecutor Anne Toohey today told Justice John Fogarty and the jury that the chef would be called to give evidence of the effectiveness of that recipe.

In fact, she said, the discussion was about "cutting" pure methamphetamine with dextrose to reduce its purity ready for sale.
All five accused have denied their involvement in a conspiracy to source the drug from two men in Auckland, transport it to Christchurch through an inter-island truck driver who was making regular trips, and cut it and retail it in Christchurch.
Miss Toohey said the telephone intercepts would be played to the jury and they would be shown the text messages exchanged. The conspirators often used slang terms, street names, or their own code words for the drugs.
"A drugs expert will tell you about the various types of names that are typically used for the drugs here. At the end of the day, it is a matter for you to decide what they were talking about."

Phil introduced me to the HBO series The Wire
a while back making this pretty believable.


You have to break a few eggs to make a White Bait Omelette

Photo: Kings Fish Market.co.nz