Evidence
The Christchurch meth files
File references are this project’s own; they are not court, police or exhibit numbers. Every line below is carried by the numbered sources cited on this page.
The Christchurch meth files · 1982—2026
A darknet storefront, fifty-five confirmed imports to March 2024, and twelve years for the man behind it — the longest term in this record. Around him: six years for Harrison, twelve months’ home detention for Grose, and two couriers whose terms the reports disagree on, five years in the contemporaneous story and six in the later feature. 25262733
Mannion’s twelve-year sentence and the recruited network are documented. The article distinguishes recruited co-offenders from unwitting recipients found through a jobs marketplace; they are not interchangeable groups. Vigers and Kelly’s contemporaneous half-decade terms conflict with six years in the later feature, so neither is presented as a settled final term. Harrison’s six years and Grose’s twelve months home detention come from the retrospective, but their exact hearing dates are not established. 25262733
12 months home detention; exact sentencing date not established in retrieved feature. 27
CONVICTEDOne of four young men recruited as couriers/reshippers, around 20 at recruitment
Six years imprisonment; exact sentencing date not established in retrieved feature. 27
CONVICTEDOne of four young men recruited as couriers/reshippers, around 20 at recruitment
Contemporaneous 22 December 2025 article says half a decade each; later feature [27] says six years each. Actual term unresolved; excluded from source-supported-term total. 2733
TERM DISPUTEDOne of four young men recruited as couriers/reshippers, around 20 at recruitment
12 years imprisonment, sentenced by Judge Raoul Neave, who said it was the largest drug importation and distribution operation he could recall in his career. 252627
CONVICTEDTauranga-based head of the national syndicate; ran the darknet vendor sites MollyShop and WhiteLines under the aliases Electric Squid and Azimuth; 48 at sentencing; imported and supplied methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD, ketamine and cocaine
Contemporaneous 22 December 2025 article says half a decade each; later feature [27] says six years each. Actual term unresolved; excluded from source-supported-term total. 2733
TERM DISPUTEDOne of four young men recruited as couriers/reshippers, around 20 at recruitment
| Person | Legal position | Outcome / qualification | Src |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Bailey Grose | Reported sentenced | 12 months home detention; exact sentencing date not established in retrieved feature. | 27 |
| Thomas James Harrison | Reported sentenced | Six years imprisonment; exact sentencing date not established in retrieved feature. | 27 |
| Daniel George Kelly | Reported sentenced; term disputed between reports | Contemporaneous 22 December 2025 article says half a decade each; later feature [27] says six years each. Actual term unresolved; excluded from source-supported-term total. | 2733 |
| Jamie Vincent Hadyn Mannion | Reported sentenced | 12 years imprisonment, sentenced by Judge Raoul Neave, who said it was the largest drug importation and distribution operation he could recall in his career. | 252627 |
| Cory David Vigers | Reported sentenced; term disputed between reports | Contemporaneous 22 December 2025 article says half a decade each; later feature [27] says six years each. Actual term unresolved; excluded from source-supported-term total. | 2733 |