Joint operations foil drug imports

Police and Customs have combined forces in recent months to help dent the importation of Class C drugs and precursor chemicals destined for the manufacture and supply of New Zealand’s ‘P’ market.

In December, Operation Hurricane saw the New Zealand Customs Service and Auckland Metro Crime and Operations Support (AMCOS) seize 44.8kg of ContacNT - a precursor for the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The precursors were concealed in a shipment of 80 bicycles and intercepted in a commercial containerised consignment from China, imported through Auckland.

Customs Manager Investigations, Bill Perry, says the precursors were destined for the local market and had the potential to be manufactured into 13kg of ‘P’, with a potential value of $13 million.

“The continued demand for ‘P’ in the New Zealand market drives organised criminal groups towards increasingly complex concealments,” he says.

AMCOS Crime Services Manager, Detective Inspector Bruce Good, says interceptions of methamphetamine precursors show ‘P’ manufacturing in New Zealand remains widespread.

Operation Hurricane came hard on the heels of Operation Ponch and Operation Silver which, in November last year, saw two separate interceptions of methamphetamine and precursors with a combined weight of 150kg and a combined value of $50 million.

Again, both shipments were intercepted in commercial consignments from China.
In Operation Ponch, Police and Customs found around 32 litres (or 32kg) of methamphetamine in liquid in a shipment imported through the Port of Tauranga.

Operation Silver saw the seizure of 127kg of ContacNT, concealed in roof tiles, in a second shipment from China.

Two men have been arrested and face a range of charges as a result of the operations. Both are before the courts.