A 44kg shipment of meth, estimated to be worth $13 million on the street, has been seized from a container in Tauranga.
The bust was made by Customs officers at the Port of Tauranga on Saturday, finding a total of 44 packages in duffel bags.
The container came to the attention of authorities after making its way from Central America to Auckland via Tauranga.
After docking, the cargo was removed from the ship and X-rayed, revealing "anomalies".
"During the examination, officers located two duffle bags on top of legitimate cargo," Customs said.
"Inside the bags were 44 wrapped packages. Testing confirmed positive for methamphetamine."
A total of 43.9kg of methamphetamine was seized, with an estimated street value of $13 million and an estimated social harm cost of $46 million.
Customs said the drugs were concealed using a "rip-on/rip-off" method, where contraband was hidden within legitimate cargo.
According to shipping security experts Risk Intelligence, rip on/rip off tactics required corrupt crew members or port authorities to serve as facilitators in the traffic by allowing criminal groups to contaminate the containers. "In its most basic form, the drugs are barely concealed in the container at all."
Customs Maritime Operations Manager Northern Robert Smith said legitimate carriers could be impacted by the illegal methods. “Criminal groups exploit legitimate businesses and cargo to support their illegal trade, with no regard for the commercial damage, disruption, or risk they leave behind,"
“Customs will continue to combine intelligence-led targeting, frontline expertise and technology to detect and disrupt criminal activity at the border, protect legitimate trade and make New Zealand an increasingly difficult and high-risk place for organised crime groups to operate.”
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