Cocaine seizures 'tip of iceberg'

Cocaine has become the trendy drug of choice and the the number of smugglers from South America caught at the border is rising.

Police believe the cocaine is being supplied to a West African group in Auckland - hidden inside mail, chocolates, laptops and human bodies - then distributed around city nightspots.

Historically, the Class A drug has been less popular among partygoers than methamphetamine and Ecstasy. But at $350 to $400 a gram, cocaine is cheaper than P ($100 for 0.1g) and has a better reputation.

The head of Auckland's drug squad, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Cahill, says cocaine seizures at the border have "spiked" in the past six to nine months. While the total amount stopped at the border would not exceed 15kg, Mr Cahill noted the rising numbers of smaller imports being intercepted by Customs.

"That indicates that perhaps it's the tip of the iceberg. We saw a lot of mail imports, about 200 to 400 grams. It's not a lot but it adds up if 100 parcels got through."

Mr Cahill was unsure why the drug's popularity seemed to be rising in New Zealand.

"Cocaine is prevalent in the United Kingdom. There would be a lot of 30-year-olds coming back from an OE in England who would have used it there. There's almost a ready market for it, you might say."

Cristian Ayala, 32, and Luis Orlando Bogado, 34, of Argentina, appeared in the Auckland District Court last month jointly charged with importing a Class-A drug.

Both men are in custody after Bogado was detained at Auckland Airport under suspicion of internally concealing drugs.

He is alleged to have passed nearly 140 pellets, weighing 5g each, containing cocaine.

The total of almost 700g is worth up to $278,000. Just over a week later, 18-year-old Argentinian Mathias Ariel Lopez was stopped and held until he allegedly passed more than 90 pellets, of 5g each.