Twelve new charges alleging race fixing – including the drugging of a horse – have been laid in the police's investigation into the harness racing scene.
A North Canterbury man in his 50s, a driver, appeared at the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday for the first time as part of the expanding investigation, dubbed Operation Inca.
He faced one race fixing charge, alleging that a substance was administered to a horse to gain an advantageat a race meeting earlier this year. He is charged with conspiring with one of the other defendants to fix the race.
His court appearance at a review session before Judge Raoul Neave brings the total number of people caught up in the investigation to 13.
David Clarkson
for Stuff