Twelve people have been arrested in Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago after police busted an online drug-trading network operating on Facebook.
Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis described the online drug distribution operation as one of the largest seen in the Southern District. The offenders are alleged to have imported a large variety of drugs, including cocaine, LSD, MDMA, GHB and cannabis into the country through the use of the dark web. The drugs would then be sold to local buyers or exported overseas.
Inglis said police were aware for several months of the drugs being bought and sold on an online site operating nationwide.
He described the site as a "web-based Facebook site where access was required to join it".
Inglis said once police became aware of the activity, they began a four-month-long investigation into the illegal network in an attempt to discover who was behind it.
Over the course of two days, nine search warrants were executed in the Queenstown, Wānaka and Roxburgh areas.
Three of the 10 arrested were foreign nationals from France and Chile, while one was a New Zealand-based patched Mongrel Mob gang member.
At one property, police discovered the offender growing cannabis beneath their house.
The value of the drugs seized during the arrests is unknown, police also discovered $10,000 in cash at the addresses.
"We know it's being imported from offshore and being sold around the area. We're aware of imports in the vicinity of $142,000 destined this way and we're aware of other imports of up to an ounce of cocaine at a time," Inglis said.
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