A drug researcher says there has been a shift in where meth in New Zealand is coming from — and detections of the drug have gone up 30% in wastewater testing.
SHORE & Whariki Research Centre leader Chris Wilkins told Breakfast that traditionally, methamphetamine has come to New Zealand from South East Asia.
But more recently, he said it has been increasingly coming from Mexico, "maybe involving cartels".
Yesterday, investigations began into the origins of the meth disguised as lollies found in Auckland City Mission food parcels.
Drug tests showed one lozenge contained approximately 3g of methamphetamine.
A common dose to swallow is just 10 to 25mg, meaning the single lolly has up to 300 doses.
Describing the incident, Wilkins said New Zealand is "an attractive country to send methamphetamine to".
“The price is higher than many other parts of the world. Australia is a big market, and we’ve had quite an established supply from Asia.
“With [methamphetamine] from Mexican cartels, it could be they have a long history of the manufacture of methamphetamine, and they tend to use these more kind of sophisticated concealment strategies, because they are sending drugs often across the border into the US, so they have to be a bit more sophisticated with that.”
Because the lolly is attractive to children, Wilkins said the way it was smuggled is “bizarre and really concerning”.
Latest wastewater testing results published by police revealed meth use across sampled sites increased substantially in the first three months of 2024, averaging an estimated 17.5kg per week.
"All districts, except for Waikato, recorded above average methamphetamine use."
The police report, compiled in conjunction with the National Drug Intelligence Bureau, estimated meth use in the first quarter of this year equated to $19.4 million in social harm.
New Zealanders urged to be wary of where meth may turn up next
Wilkins said Kiwis should "remain vigilant" at this time due to the dangers involved with methamphetamine – and pointed to an incident last year where one person died after drinking a beer which was infused with the drug.
“Unfortunately, I think often when organised crime finds a channel that’s working for them … they tend to really use that a lot … I think we do need to maintain vigilance, and a lot of the time it’s just real common sense.
"When you taste something or you smell something and it smells really unusual or really acrid, then obviously don’t try it and alert someone if you think it’s suspicious."
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