A joint Customs and Police operation has swooped on New Zealand’s second largest importation of methamphetamine, concealed in steel beams.
Both agencies descended on a rural Waikato property in darkness early on Friday morning, with two men visiting from Australia being arrested in the process of deconstructing the beams.
Customs earlier located the concealment of 515 kilograms of methamphetamine within the hefty steel beams in early September, after being sent from the United States.
Customs' intelligence gathering and associated targeting prompted further investigation of the shipment, which uncovered inconsistencies in some of the 42 steel beams. Customs' Sea Cargo Inspections Facility officers x-rayed selected items in the consignment and conducted other additional examinations which led to the discovery of the large amount of methamphetamine.
Under Operation Girder, Police's National Organised Crime Group (NOCG) have worked alongside Customs to identify the group responsible, with warrants being executed across Auckland and the Waikato over recent days.
All up five men, aged between 31 and 51, have been arrested. All initially appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday, facing charges relating to the importation and supply of methamphetamine.
One of these men has been charged with unlawful possession of firearms after a military-style semi-automatic rifle and ammunition were recovered.
The two men arrested in the Waikato on 4 October are New Zealand passport holders but reside in Australia.
Detective Inspector Colin Parmenter, from the National Organised Crime Group, says the seizure is a significant disruption to the wider drug market operating within New Zealand.
"The significant amount seized in this operation is another demonstration of the Police and Customs partnership and commitment to the disruption and dismantling of transnational organised drug networks.
"It's estimated that this shipment would have gone on to produce 25.7 million individual doses of this destructive drug, and preventing this harm is a key motivation for our staff.
"The organised criminal groups looking to profit from this type of offending will continue to be a key focus of our attention and resources.
This seizure is yet another example of the work being carried out to make New Zealand more resilient to transnational organised crime, Detective Inspector Parmenter says.
Investigations will continue and further arrests cannot be ruled out.
Customs says the operation shows law enforcement in New Zealand continues to successfully combat transnational organised crime.
"Customs' intelligence gathering and targeting have played a critical role in detecting this smuggling attempt and identifying people responsible," Customs' Group Manager Intelligence, Investigations and Enforcement, Terry Brown, says.
"This joint operation has yielded intelligence that will lead to further enforcement opportunities for Customs and Police and has prevented more than $570 million in harm to New Zealand communities and our economy.
"The method and scale of this smuggling operation clearly illustrate the amount of effort organised crime groups are willing to go to but our seizure and the arrests Police have made equally show the skill and determination investigations and enforcement teams will apply to detect, disrupt and dismantle these criminal efforts," Mr Brown says.
Anyone with suspicions about possible smuggling should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Customs confidentially on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768).
