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Record drugs haul sparks major New Zealand police investigation

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand Police have made their largest ever seizure of methamphetamine, a record 448 kilograms with a street value of 438 million NZ dollars (309 million U.S. dollars) found in the far north of the country.

Early on Sunday a boat was found abandoned on Ninety Mile Beach, on the west of the North Island, with a number of mesh bags in the back of it, said a statement from the Police Tuesday.

Police began searching for a Toyota Prado and a rental campervan, as they had been informed that the occupants of the vehicles had been seen in the area in the past fortnight, acting suspiciously and trying to launch boats off the west coast.

Police had also received information from members of the public that the men driving the vehicles had been offering large amounts of cash to locals in exchange for assistance to launch boats off the beach.

As police officers were busy recovering the boat, the Toyota Prado drove past.

Police chased the vehicle and the vehicle was stopped a short distance later.

They arrested two men, aged 31 and 26, from Auckland.

Several hours after that, police stopped the campervan and found what appeared to be multiple bags of methamphetamine in the back of the vehicle.

The 19 year-old driver and the campervan were taken to a police station, where a further search of the vehicle found multiple suitcases and bags containing dozens of plastic zip-lock bags full of methamphetamine.

"This is without a doubt, the largest ever seizure of methamphetamine in New Zealand," Superintendent Russell Le Prou said in the statement.

The seizure exceeded the combined amount of methamphetamine seized in New Zealand in 2015, which totalled 334 kg.

Investigations were now underway into where the methamphetamine had come from.

Many of the bags showed signs of exposure to salt water on the outside.

Police and Customs believed the drugs have been retrieved from the waters off Ninety Mile Beach.

All three men were due appear in the Kaitaia District Court on Tuesday, jointly charged with importing methamphetamine and possession for supply of methamphetamine. Endit