Frenchman elects jury trial on a charge of importing cocaine into Northland

Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom has elected a jury trial on two charges, including importation of cocaine into Northland.

A Frenchman accused of importing 24kg of cocaine into Northland worth up to $10.8 million has elected trial by jury.

Alexander Steeve Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom, 26, pleaded guilty in the Whangarei District Court yesterday to possessing 24kg of cocaine but entered not guilty pleas to two other charges.

They were one charge of importing cocaine and another of failing, without reasonable excuse, to assist a police constable exercising a search power under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

Yonkwa-Dingom was arrested in Paihia in December after he was found in possession of the drug after a Customs-led drug sting.

Customs and police allege the cocaine - worth up to $10.8m - came into Paihia off a cruise ship in early December.

A collaborative Australian and New Zealand Customs and police operation preceded Yonkwa-Dingom's arrest.

He was remanded in custody by Judge Deidre Orchard to reappear in court on May 23.

Yonkwa-Dingom will not be sentenced for possessing cocaine until the outcome of the not-guilty pleas are known.

An interpreter assisted the French national in court.

According to court documents, Yonkwa-Dingom is from Pau, in southwest France.

Police and Customs would not name the cruise ship when Yonkwa-Dingom was arrested, whether the haul was detected at an overseas port before coming into New Zealand or whether the operation had concentrated on passengers or crew. Nor would they say where the ship had come from or was bound.

They reiterated the illicit import did not come off any of the three cruise ships that called into the Bay of Islands - Ovation of the Seas, Maasdam and Caledonian Sky— the same day the cocaine bust and arrest was made on December 20 last year.

Police and Customs also refused to answer other questions— such as whether Yelengwe Yonkwa-Dingom was known by police here or overseas and if he had been under surveillance before bringing the drug into New Zealand earlier this month.

The arrest followed Customs and police using other agencies domestically and internationally, such as the Australian Border Force.