Papa Mike

The other thing I found out, which I found astonishing, is that in a lot of drug trade deals now, Ponamu is being used as a commodity instead of cash.

So it gets you around the whole, yeah.

Here in New Zealand?

Yes, yes, here in New Zealand, yeah.

It's huge apparently.

What?

I know.

That makes you maybe feel a little bit sad, you know.

This beautiful Tonga of ours is being used that way.

It's got such a strong value.

Hmm.

And the reason it's got such a strong value is because since in the treaty settlement that Ngāi Tahu were given the status of being the kaitiaki of Pānaumu, it's become a lot tighter.

So that means it's more valuable because there is a value.

You can't just…

There was a story a few years back, I remember, as a father and son helicopter pilots who got busted lifting hundreds of kilos straight out of a river in the West Coast.

Yeah, and that sort of stuff happens all the time.

It is value.

Yeah, and so because of that treaty settlement, there are some rules around when you collect panama because you can actually collect it.

You can find it.

So you can't take it out of a river, but if you were to find it on a beach.