Police officer shot dead serving cannabis warrant in Napier siege
Three officers serving a routine cannabis search warrant at Jan Molenaar's house in Napier on 7 May 2009 came under fire; Senior Constable Len Snee was killed and two officers and a neighbour were wounded. A siege of about two days followed, ending when Molenaar shot himself.
🇳🇿 Chaucer Road South, Napier Hill, Napier · New Zealand
On the morning of 7 May 2009 three police officers went to Jan Molenaar’s house on Chaucer
Road South in Napier to serve a routine cannabis search warrant.[1]Molenaar grabbed a gun
and ordered them out, then shot them as they left: Senior Constable Len Snee was killed, and
Senior Constables Bruce Miller and Grant Diver were seriously injured, along with a civilian,
Lenny Holmwood.[2][1]
The siege
Snee had been slain on Napier Hill while carrying out a search warrant for cannabis, and
Miller and Diver were grievously wounded.[3]Police cordoned off the area and brought in
the Armed Offenders Squad and the Special Tactics Group to contain the well-armed gunman.[1]What followed was a siege of about two days that ended with Molenaar shooting himself.[2][1]
Ten years later more than 250 people, including Snee’s wife Vicki, his sons and his wider
whanau, gathered at the Napier Sailing Club to mark the anniversary of the siege.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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.
Police found $54,000 in a shoebox when they stopped an 18-year-old's car on Theodosia Street in Timaru, and a search of his home turned up more cash and a small amount of drugs. The Christchurch teenager appeared in the Timaru District Court the same day charged with supply and possession for supply of cannabis, and was remanded on bail until 1 December.
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.
Police and Customs in Canterbury arrested four men aged 27 to 35 and remanded them in custody after a joint investigation that intercepted drug shipments at the border and searched properties across the region. Alongside cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and other drugs, investigators seized 3 kg of cannabis, more than $500,000 in cash and a 3D-printed firearm.
