National Party Leader John Key says National will launch a serious assault on the drug ‘P’ by cracking down on gangs making and distributing the drug.

Speaking to the National Party Canterbury-Westland regional conference today, Mr Key says ‘P’ or pure methamphetamine has caused more problems than any other illegal drug.

“It’s dangerous, it’s devastatingly addictive, it leads to violence, and it destroys lives.  Disturbingly, as gangs have become more powerful in New Zealand, ‘P’ has become more and more available.

“This increased availability of ‘P’ has, in turn, led to increased crime rates, with younger and younger kids becoming involved in the trade.

“Today, I’m sending a warning to every single ‘P’ dealer, every ‘P’ manufacturer, and every gang involved in the ‘P’ trade:  National will not put up with your criminal activity.

“National in government will make targeting and undermining criminal gangs a key priority for the police.  We will give police and courts significant new powers to fight gangs. 

We will give the police increased legal powers to listen in on gang communications and conduct surveillance of their comings and goings.  If police suspect a gang of involvement in the ‘P’ trade then we want to give them every chance of busting their operation
We will give police and local authorities increased power to storm gang fortifications and destroy them.
We will strengthen Crimes Act provisions that make it illegal to be a member of a criminal organisation.  We want law enforcement agencies to have the power to crack down, not just on the foot soldiers’ doing the ‘P’ dealing, but also on the gang leaders who are overseeing the operation.
We will give the courts increased sentencing powers for dealing with those involved in gangs.  We will amend the Sentencing Act to make membership of a gang an aggravating factor in sentencing.

“National will also work on developing new legal mechanisms to give law enforcement agencies and courts an appropriate range of powers for discovering and punishing those involved in the ‘P’ trade.

“Finally, National will investigate banning known ‘P’ dealers and manufacturers from having the right to electronic bail or home detention. We view these drug-related offences as dangerous to the public and we believe those responsible for them should be sentenced accordingly.

“We will also ensure that those accused of ‘P’-related crimes don’t escape trial on the basis of court backlogs.”