Drugs market rises in rebuild of Christchurch: study

The reconstruction of New Zealand's earthquake-battered second city of Christchurch has led to an increase in illegal drug availability in New Zealand, according to an academic study out Wednesday.

The Massey University study of drug use trends from 2006 to 2014 found that Christchurch's recovery since a series of devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 had contributed to growing availability of methamphetamine.

The 106 kilograms of methamphetamine stopped at the border by authorities in 2014 was the highest quantity seized in New Zealand since 2006, said the report.

Senior researcher Dr Chris Wilkins noted that organized criminal gangs played a leading role in this supply alongside other factors.

"This can be put down to a number of things -- general recovery following the earthquakes, the influx of workers for the rebuild and reported reorganization of the gang scene resulting in greater supply of methamphetamine," Wilkins said in a statement.

"There are also reports of greater methamphetamine supply in Australia and a more globally connected methamphetamine supply network."

The study also found increasing use of the Internet to buy and sell illegal drugs via social media and encrypted websites.

The proportion of frequent drug users who mentioned encrypted websites as a new way of selling drugs had markedly increased from virtually none in 2011 to 37 percent of surveyed users just three years later.

Websites, such as Nucleus and Alphabay, offered enhanced anonymity via encryption and access to international drug markets selling a range of drug types not widely available in New Zealand.

"These technological advances present new challenges to domestic and international drug control," Wilkins said. Endit