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Warning, praise follow record New Zealand drugs seizure

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Government ministers Tuesday forecast a drop in crime after police and Customs officers reported their biggest ever single seizure of methamphetamine.

The record 448 kilograms with a street value of 438 million NZ dollars (307.87 million U.S. dollars) was found in the far north of the country on Sunday, the New Zealand Police announced earlier Tuesday.

Police were tipped off by locals in the Northland region of suspicious activity involving men in two vehicles and of an abandoned boat on the remote Ninety Mile Beach on the west of the North Island.

Police eventually stopped both the vehicles and found suitcases and bags containing dozens of plastic zip-lock bags full of methamphetamine.

They arrested three men, aged 31, 26 and 19.

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

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

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

Police Minister Judith Collins and Customs Minister Nicky Wagner congratulated the members of the public and law enforcement officers who were involved in the operation.

"This was the largest seizure in New Zealand's history and demonstrates outstanding investigative work by all involved. It will have an impact on the supply of methamphetamine resulting in less crime and fewer victims," Police Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

"Police are deadly serious about cutting the supply of methamphetamine and bringing those who peddle this drug to account," said Collins.

"I hope this seizure stands as an inspiration for those who have information about suspicious activities in our communities to report it to police, and play a role in making all of our communities safer."

However, the Police Association union warned the seizure indicated the massive size of the New Zealand market for smuggled methamphetamine, known colloquially as "P."

"P and organized crime go together, and the P problem is evidence of the extent of organized crime activity in New Zealand. Believing that a P problem can be confined to a certain segment of society is folly," Police Association President Greg O'Connor said in a statement.

"Only considerable investment in disruption of organized crime in New Zealand will curtail or help to reduce the prevalence of P and other destructive drugs." Endit