The New Zealand Customs Service has made its biggest ever seizure of methamphetamine, discovering 176kg of the drug hidden in the doors of shipping containers.
The Customs on Friday said that the seizure was the result of a 16-month investigation, which began after officers identified a company believed to have been set up to smuggle methamphetamine, known as P, into the country.
According to Customs, the haul has an estimated street value of 176 million New Zealand dollars.
Spokesperson Jamie Bamford said officers found the drugs in July after intercepting 10 shipping containers sent to the company from China.
Bamfotd said: “A 20-year-old Hong Kong national had appeared in the Auckland District Court on a charge relating to the smuggling.
“Customs remains focussed on disrupting transnational smuggling through our role at the border and dismantling the criminal syndicates involved.
“This seizure will have prevented New Zealand’s criminal gangs from profiting from the misery caused by pushing meth through our cities and rural communities.”
It followed the record breaking seizure by New Zealand Police in June of 500 kilos of methamphetamine thought to have been retrieved by smugglers from the waters off Ninety Mile Beach in New Zealand’s far north.
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