$6m of P in luggage

Methamphetamine hidden inside food products brought into New Zealand by the tourists. Photo / Supplied

The six tourists flew into Auckland on Cathay Pacific flight 107 from Hong Kong early last Sunday afternoon.

Their short itinerary featured a two-day stay in Auckland and a visit to the tourist mecca of Rotorua before a return trip to Auckland and the flight home.

Five of the tour group, and their tour leader, passed through Customs and immigration and waited in the international arrivals hall for the last member of the group.

That man's baggage was being subjected to a search that Customs said yesterday led to the discovery of $6 million of pure methamphetamine.

The department said a quantity of the drug was found in sealed food and drink containers in luggage belonging to one member of the group.

As a result, other members were searched, leading to the discovery of "further concealments of methamphetamine".

Instead of going to the rooms they had reserved at SkyCity, the six were arrested and have spent the past week in jail. The tour leader was not arrested.

Customs revealed yesterday that the six Taiwanese tourists - and another man on the same flight who was found later - appeared in the Auckland District Court last week, each charged with importing a class-A controlled drug. They face life imprisonment if found guilty.

Customs said the 8.175kg of pure methamphetamine found could have been sold for more than $6 million.

An outline of the police allegations seen by the Herald said the seven defendants - Huang Min-kuan, 24, Jian Che-yu, 25, Hsu Ching-yi, 25, Huang Chien-chuan, 28, Liao Chia-chia, 24, Hsu Nai-chun, 27, and Ma Fu-hsien, 39 - arrived early last Sunday afternoon.

They were on a private tour, and had organised their own guide, a female tour leader, who joined them in Hong Kong on the day they travelled to New Zealand.

All were associated in some way to each other on a personal level.

Ma Fu-hsien, a chef, was on the same flight as the tour group but remained separate from it. He passed through Customs and immigration checks.

When he was located the next day, he said he was on holiday, but police say he was also involved in the P-smuggling plot.

Taiwanese passport holders have had visa-free entry to New Zealand since last December.

The Comptroller of Customs, Martyn Dunne, praised the vigilance of his officers at the airport.

Officers often relied on intelligence to assess risks and target possible drug carriers, he said, but the latest arrests were an example of a vigilant Customs official "acting on her training".

The Government has said it will give Customs an extra $5.9 million for technology to fight the illegal drugs trade at the border.

Methamphetamine convictions have risen from 2089 in 2008 to more than 2400 last year, and a Government report says the price of the drug is fluctuating between $700 and $1200 a gram.

Battling the scourge

8kg: P found in sealed containers (such as left).

7: People arrested and charged.

$6 million: Estimated street value.

Other big p busts:

2006: A large quantity of the drug, with an estimated street value of $135 million, found among bags of cement in a container from China.

2006: $8 million of pure methamphetamine found packed in double-wrapped, heat-sealed bags hidden under carbon granules in water filters from China.

2009: 40kg of methamphetamine precursor ContacNT found in a shipping container carrying 100 sacks of washing powder from China.

2010: Five students charged with importing 67kg of ContacNT, which could have been converted into pure methamphetamine worth $5.5 million to $8.2 million.