Killer Beez chief drops bail application

A gang leader allegedly involved in a drug ring has dropped his bid to be freed on bail.

Joshua Masters, the president of the Killer Beez gang, is facing drugs and money laundering charges and was due to have a bail application heard in the High Court in Auckland this week.

However, police said the address which he included in his application for bail was not suitable and the application was dropped.

Masters had also applied to vacate his guilty plea and replace it with a not guilty plea and that bid was likely to be heard early in August.

Masters and 43 other gang members were arrested in May, 2008. During the raid police seized several hundred thousand dollars worth of methamphetamine.

Several members of the gang were jailed in 2009 on drugs charges.

Masters originally faced 17 charges but the prosecution agreed to withdraw 13 charges when he pleaded guilty.

However, a police spokesman said those 13 charges would remain in the system until he was sentenced on the charges to which he pleaded guilty. If he was granted his application to vacate his guilty plea, he would face 17 charges.

- NZPA