Former NZ cop Mark Franklin jailed a year in Cook Islands for cannabis sale
Former New Zealand Detective Inspector Mark Franklin was sentenced in August 2013 to one year's jail in the Cook Islands after pleading guilty to selling cannabis to an undercover officer in Rarotonga in 2010. He was one of 13 people arrested in the joint Cook Islands and New Zealand police Operation Eagle investigation.
🇳🇿 Arorangi Prison, Rarotonga, Cook Islands · New Zealand
Arrested
13
Charged
1
Sentenced
1
Prison
one year
Former New Zealand Detective Inspector Mark Franklin was sentenced in August
2013 to one year’s jail in the Cook Islands after pleading guilty to selling
cannabis to an undercover officer in Rarotonga in 2010.[1]Franklin, one of
New Zealand’s most respected homicide detectives, is serving the term at
Arorangi Prison on Rarotonga.[1]
Franklin was one of 13 people arrested during Operation Eagle, a joint
investigation between Cook Islands and New Zealand police, whose other arrests
included the son of a prominent politician and a former female police officer.[1]Franklin had just been diagnosed with cancer when he was arrested and says
he used cannabis to help with nausea.[1]
Franklin left New Zealand police in 2005 on psychological grounds and moved to
the Cook Islands, where he worked as a musician while helping local police on
fraud and corruption cases.[1]
Photos and video
Tony Wall's photo of former Detective Inspector Mark Franklin at Arorangi Prison on Rarotonga, where he is serving the one-year jail term for the 2010 cannabis sale to an undercover officer. Photo: Tony WallPhoto details
The Cook Islands has no separate CFI country id, so the New Zealand country entry is used, as in the existing Cook Islands reports.
The article says Franklin was sentenced "last month" relative to its 21 September 2013 publication date, so the exact day of the August 2013 sentence is not given.
No quantity, value or amount of cannabis was published for the 2010 sale to the undercover officer.
The identities of the other 12 people arrested in Operation Eagle beyond "the son of a prominent politician and a former female police officer" are not named, and their charges and outcomes are not reported.
Only this single Stuff / Sunday Star Times profile was found; no police statement, court record or second outlet reporting the sentence or the 13 arrests was located.
Christchurch District Court Judge Quentin Hix sentenced 54-year-old Damon Redshaw without prison after police found 234 grams of cannabis in his crashed vehicle, along with a sawn-off .22 rifle, ammunition and a methamphetamine vape.
Sindee Jane Beecroft, a 58-year-old woman from Pleasant Point, near Timaru, was sentenced in the Timaru District Court after police found 500g of dried cannabis bud when they searched her property. Judge Maurice Casey told her the evidence showed she was not just a casual cannabis user.
Judge Mark Williams sentenced Jade-Cooper Mackenzie in the Invercargill District Court on cannabis dealing and other drug and assault charges, rejecting his claim that he sold only to fund his own addiction. Mackenzie had handled 16kg of cannabis, held $35,000 in cash and had two people working for him.
Ruben Flutey, 34, was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison at the Wellington District Court after being convicted on 18 charges, including supplying methamphetamine, cannabis, ecstasy and ketamine. Police seized nearly $200,000 of assets including drugs, cash, a classic car, motorbikes and jet skis, and four more associates were due to be sentenced in November and December.
Arrested 1Charged 1Prison 10 years and five months
