NZ Police make big drugs haul with Chinese help

WELLINGTON - New Zealand Police said Monday they have made a second major drug haul this month after working with Chinese authorities to break up an Asian trafficking ring.

Detectives from the Organized and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand (OFCANZ) seized 248 kilograms of Chinese-made pseudoephedrine, commonly known as ContacNT, and 16 kg of pure ephedrine that arrived in Auckland on a container ship that arrived in Auckland early Sunday.

The drugs consignment was big enough to produce methamphetamine with a street value of about 72 million NZ dollars ($59.41 million), Detective Inspector Bruce Good, of OFCANZ, said in a statement.

"The ContacNT was disguised as legitimately imported commercial goods," Good said.

"While we were confident our intelligence was accurate it was still a huge relief when we opened the shipping container at the Customs inspection facility and the drugs were discovered," he said.

The seizure was made as a result of intelligence gathered during Operation Ghost, an 18-month multi-agency investigation that focused on a group of senior Asian organized crime figures operating in New Zealand, he said.

In October, police seized 267 kg of ContacNT and arrested four people after raiding three Auckland addresses as part of the investigation, and on Dec 4, police seized another 64 kg of the drug and arrested 24 people in 40 raids across the upper North Island.

"This second big drugs haul is another warning shot to criminals that if you chance your arm on importing these vile drugs that we will catch you," Customs Minister Maurice Williamson said in a statement Monday.

"Intelligence tools and methods being used by government agencies have improved out of sight in recent years and it's only a matter of time before these drug importers are caught."

Police earlier thanked China's National Narcotics Control Commission and the Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau for their help during Operation Ghost.