Supermarket served with drug premises warning

[Oz]

A Darwin supermarket was yesterday served with a first drug premises notice after police said customers were offered the chance to buy drugs with their groceries.

 

Tiwi Supermarket owner Jannie Mathers was served the drug house notice.

 

Ms Mathers, 39, said last night she was "appalled" that her business had been implicated in a drug dealing operation.

 

A man, an employee of the supermarket for the past "couple of years", had been sacked. "He said he didn't sell it in the supermarket," Ms Mathers said.

 

"He said the drugs were in a bumbag that he had brought with him to work because he didn't want to leave them at home.

 

"I don't know what to believe but being caught with bags is good enough for me -- we just can't have that here.

 

"We're only involved because he was employed at our premises.

 

"If it has happened at the shop I apologise to all the customers because that's not what we're about. Instead of it being him it's become the Tiwi Supermarket."

 

The notice is the first of three warnings that have to be issued before the store is declared a drug house.

 

Drug squad detectives raided the supermarket last Friday, seizing 28 1g deal bags of cannabis and $200 cash in a bumbag.

 

The bag allegedly belonged to a 21-year-old man, a then-employee of the supermarket.

 

Police also searched the man's Rocklands Dve home and found a .30 rifle and 1g of cannabis in a bedroom, and an air rifle in another room.

 

Drug Squad Superintendent Kris Evans said there was evidence to suggest drugs were sold from the store. An operation at the supermarket began after police received a tip-off.

 

Drug squad officers carried out surveillance on the site before they raided.

 

"It appears that the proprietor of the supermarket had no knowledge that this person was allegedly selling cannabis from the shop he was employed at," Supt Evans said.

 

"The supermarket has not been declared a 'drug house'."

 

It is the third NT business to be served with such a notice since the drug house legislation was introduced in August 2002.

 

The 21-year-old will be summonsed to appear in a Darwin court charged with possessing and supplying cannabis, possessing an unlicensed and unregistered firearm and with unsafe storage of a firearm.

 

Author: Edith Bevin

Date: 9/06/04

Source: Northern Territory News

Copyright: 2004 News Limited