12. NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) Link to this
to the Minister of Customs
What recent reports has he received on the interceptions of drug-internal couriers at the border?
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister of Customs) Link to this
In the last 18 months the Customs Service has caught 10 drug couriers, or mules, trying to bring a range of narcotics into the country by hiding these drugs inside their bodies. That compares with only one drug internal courier interception for all of 2009. These swallowers have arrived from a variety of countries: South America, Thailand, South Africa, Iran, and the United States. The largest individual swallower on record for New Zealand ingested 175 pellets, which was made up of 890 grams of methamphetamine and 104 grams of opium.
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON Link to this
Most recently, customs officers intercepted a Polish man who was later found to have 74 plastic pellets containing 370 grams of methamphetamine, or P, concealed inside him. The value of that would have been somewhere between $220,000 and $370,000 on the street. Intelligence work by customs officers at the border, and the techniques used to detect swallowers, hopefully will mean that attempted smuggling like this will happen less and less.