Hi-tech camera network used in $20m record cocaine bust

Customs group manager of intelligence, investigations and enforcement Jamie Bamford (left) and police assistant commissioner of investigations Richard Chambers. Photo/Andrew Warner

Investigators used the Port of Tauranga's hi-tech camera surveillance network to gather the intelligence leadingto yesterday's record $20m cocaine bust.

A five-month investigation by police and customs culminated in the early hours of yesterday morning with raids on properties in Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Auckland, according to customs manager of intelligence, investigations and enforcement Jamie Bamford.

At a press conference yesterday he said the drugs arrived in Tauranga stashed in a hidden compartment on a commercial shipping vessel on October 31, and the haul was retrieved under cover of night by the alleged smugglers who were later arrested.

Bamford said four men were arrested - all foreign nationals - and 46 kilograms of cocaine was seized from a Tauranga address. The haul had a street value of $20m.

Police say the drugs were retrieved from a hidden compartment at the back of the Maersk Antares called a sea chest. Photo/Andrew Warner

Another 5kg of cocaine was found in Onehunga in Auckland along with a kilogram of methamphetamine and a significant amount of cash.

Police assistant commissioner of investigations Richard Chambers said the Tauranga haul was the biggest ever seizure of cocaine in New Zealand.

"We're very happy that this product has been taken out of circulation because that 46 kilograms of cocaine...would have caused significant destruction to communities across our country and harm to families."

It would have been distributed throughout New Zealand, he said. Police would be looking into potential distribution networks, which might include gang members.

Chambers said the investigation into the syndicate was ongoing and he expected there would be more arrests.

There was no evidence anyone on the ship knew about the drugs, he said, and no special reason for the syndicate to target the Port of Tauranga.

Jamie Bamford, customs, and Richard Chambers, police, answer media questions at the Port of Tauranga yesterday afternoon. Photo/Andrew Warner

Bamford said the smuggling attempt was an effort to expand New Zealand's small market for cocaine.

"We pay one of the highest prices, so we are an attractive market. It's all about greed and those syndicates and cartels making money off people's misery."

Bamford said the men arrested in Tauranga had travelled down from Auckland.

He thanked the Port of Tauranga for its cooperation throughout the investigation.

Port chief executive Mark Cairns said a select group of senior staff had been working with police and customs for months. He credited investigators for their hard work.

The port had given investigators access to its network of colour, high-definition surveillance cameras around the port.

He said yesterday's arrests were a "fantastic" result and hoped they sent a message to the "idiots" thinking about shipping drugs into New Zealand that every resource would be deployed against them.

The <i>Maersk Antares</i> arrived in Tauranga from Chile late on Halloween and left yesterday afternoon bound for Hong Kong. Photo/Andrew Warner

How it went down

The timeline of the alleged events in the five-month investigation by customs and the police that culminated in Tauranga on Wednesday.

- Customs identify people they believe are involved in smuggling and distributing Class A drugs into New Zealand, and money laundering
- They join forces with the police to gather intelligence and establish a cocaine shipment is coming into the Port of Tauranga on a commercial ship
- The ship, Maersk Antares, arrives in the Port of Tauranga from Chile late on Halloween night
- Under cover of darkness, a group approach the ship by sea
- They allegedly retrieve the drug haul from its hiding place inside a sea chest near the rudder, accessible from the exterior of the ship
- At 5.45am on November 1 police raid properties in Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Auckland, making four arrests and seizing 46 kilograms of cocaine in Tauranga plus another 5 kilograms in Auckland.