The head of a national drug syndicate has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after a Customs investigation linked him to more than $20 million worth of illicit drugs hidden in household items.
The 48-year-old man was sentenced yesterday at the Christchurch District Court.
Seventy packages containing either either cocaine, MDMA, ketamine or 1,4-Butanediol had been linked during the eight-month Operation Whoosh that kicked off in August 2023.
They were hidden in readily-available items such as garden gnomes, fish food cans, T-shirts, and baby formula, and smuggled through air freight and international mail, a Customs release said.
"Investigations established the defendant used an online jobs marketplace to recruit unwitting drug couriers to receive packages. His syndicate also sent packages to reputable businesses and then asked for the packages to be redirected.
"The defendant created two Darknet vendor sites advertising the sale of the smuggled drugs to New Zealand buyers and had even imported a pill press to manufacture the controlled drugs."
The 48-year-old man was arrested in March 2024 after a search warrant was executed at his property. By that point, four of his associates had already been taken into custody.
"Officers located several mobile phones, encrypted USBs, a large number of Prezzy cards, domestic post packaging, and SIM card packs."
He faced 19 charges including supplying and importing class A, B and C drugs, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on Wednesday.
Chief Customs officer of regional drugs investigations Rachael Manning said digital forensic analysis was crucial to the conviction.
“People incorrectly think they’re safe on the Darknet, they’re not. Everyone leaves a trail, online or on their phone. This man was running a sophisticated operation and so he needed to keep track of it. Phone and other data helped unlock his operations."
Customs was ramping up effort to combat "high frequency, low volume" drug smuggling after a $35 million top-up in 2025 helped create regional investigations teams.
Customs was also set to receive $81.5 million to boost New Zealand's border defences, announced by the Government on Friday as part of Budget 2026.
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