One dead following crash on Waitohu Valley Road in Manakau
Photo:
RNZ / Tim Brown
A person has died after a crash in the Horowhenua District earlier today.
Emergency services were called to the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Waitohu Valley Road in Manakau at about 4.15pm.
Police say one person had died at the scene.
They say the road is closed while the serious crash unit examines the crash site.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and expect delays.
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By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of Claudia Romero Lopez and Peter Wellman were both sent to prison. Photo: Supplied / Facebook When a joint police and customs operation, Operation Bali , culminated in 2022, officers seized 28kg of imported methamphetamine, 5kg of cocaine and $450,000 in cash. Ric Stevens looks at the people who are now serving hefty jail terms for their parts in the South American-linked drug syndicate. Claudia Romero Lopez grew up in poverty, enduring a chaotic and abusive childhood caught up among the infamous drug cartels of South America. In 2011, she got the chance to escape her traumatic past and begin a new life in New Zealand. But she didn't leave her old life in Colombia completely behind her. She stayed in contact with her ex-husband back home, an alleged drug dealer named Eddy, and when her son joined her in New Zealand some years later, she helped him in his drug-dealing activities too. Now she is in prison. 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He had also been responsible for large restructures - as well as managing police IT systems, property portfolio, vehicles, and launching the 105 non-emergency number. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.