A 27-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced in the Manukau District Court to 15 years' imprisonment for smuggling eight kilograms of methamphetamine inside a concrete footstool.
Kyle Robertson McCready was arrested at Auckland Airport on October 7, 2016 while trying to leave the country.
Customs investigators linked McCready's visit to New Zealand to a "decroative concrete foot stool" which was sent via air freight from the US two days earlier.
When the foot stool was smashed opened it was found to contain 18 methamphetamine filled packages wrapped in plastic and carbon paper.
The packages weighed eight kilograms and had a street value of up to $8 million.
Customs Acting Manager Investigations Michael Blades says McCready had travelled to New Zealand claiming he was on holiday and used a fake name to receive the shipment of drugs.
McCready was convicted by jury back in January.
He will serve at least six years in jail before facing deportation.
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