Auckland construction and oil industry professionals are among those accused of smuggling more than 500kg of methamphetamine into the country hidden in steel beams.
The pair are among five men charged with importing and conspiracy to import 515kg of meth, along with possession of the Class A drug for supply. It is among New Zealand’s largest drug busts..
One of the men charged was until recently in the construction industry and another is in the petroleum business. Like their co-defendants, they made their first appearances in court last week.
The pair were back in court this week for a hearing where it was initially expected they would seek bail.
That did not eventuate. Judge Evangelos Thomas instead put their bail applications off until a hearing on Monday when their lawyers are also expected to apply for continuing interim name suppression, which was granted when they first appeared in court.
Matt Goodwin, the lawyer for the accused who works in the construction industry, said his client has a business.
“He’s facing ruin.”
The lawyer for the other accused said his client’s position in the oil industry could be jeopardised if it emerged he had been charged as part of the meth bust. Further specifics on their alleged roles cannot be provided due to the suppression orders.
Judge Thomas allowed both men to keep their names secret until Monday’s hearing.
While name suppression is easy to obtain at first appearances, the bar becomes higher at subsequent hearings, Judge Thomas said. He warned them and their lawyers they would need to provide evidence of harm resulting from publication if they wanted to keep their names under wraps.
Others charged as part of the bust, dubbed Operation Girder, are also seeking bail.
The joint investigation by police and Customs came after the meth was discovered inside a shipment of 42 steel beams imported from the United States in a shipping container last month.
Customs analysts flagged the shipment for inspection in September after uncovering anomalies in some of the beams, leading to the consignment being X-rayed.
The investigation expanded to include the National Organised Crime Group and the operation conducted a “controlled delivery” of the steel beams, in an attempt to identify the network behind the importation.
The consignment was tracked to a rural Waikato property, which was raided on Friday, October 4, and led to five men appearing in the Auckland District Court on drug import and supply charges.
One was charged with unlawful possession of firearms after a military-style semi-automatic rifle and ammunition were recovered.
Two other men had flown in from Australia and were in the process of “deconstructing” the steel beams when they were arrested, according to police.
Detective Inspector Colin Parmenter said the seizure is a serious disruption to the wider drug market operating within New Zealand.
“The significant amount seized in this operation is another demonstration of the police and Customs’ partnership and commitment to the disruption and dismantling of transnational organised drug networks,” Parmenter said.
“It’s estimated that this shipment would have gone on to produce 25.7 million individual doses of this destructive drug, and preventing this harm is a key motivation for our staff.”
New Zealand is a small drug market, but one of the most lucrative. A kilogram of meth, worth just a few thousand dollars in Southeast Asia or Mexico, can command $100,000 to $150,000 here currently.
These profits attracted the attention of global organised crime groups and led to a shift in New Zealand’s criminal landscape.
The record for the biggest meth bust was smashed by the 501kg smuggled into the country from a “mother ship” off the coast of 90 Mile Beach, Northland, in 2016.
In 2019, there was another police investigation when 500kg was smuggled into Whakatāne and a Customs operation when 469kg was stopped at the border.
The record was broken again by 613kg smuggled on a flight from Malaysia in February 2022, which was destined for the Comancheros motorcycle gang. Twelve months later, this was dwarfed by the 713kg discovered inside maple syrup bottles from Canada.
While not stopped at the border, the largest cache of the drug was uncovered after the death of Aiden Sagala, 21, who unwittingly drank liquid methamphetamine from a can of beer.
Detectives investigating his death raided a warehouse in Manukau filled with 747kg of meth. The trial of a man accused of manslaughter in connection with Sagala’s death is under way.
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