The Canada Border Services Agency made the find inside heavy machinery.
The Canada Border Services Agency made the find inside heavy machinery.
A giant consignment of methamphetamine bound for New Zealand has been seized in Canada.
A piece of heavy equipment with 140kg of meth stashed inside it was hauled over by Canadian border officials after a tip-off about the dodgy shipment came from New Zealand police and Customs.
Officers from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) prised open a container that was bound for export and believed to be destined for Kiwi shores on March 30.
They found a white, crystal-like substance hidden inside the machine, which was tested and returned positive for methamphetamine.
The investigation has since been referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.
“New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Customs Service are pleased to have contributed to the methamphetamine seizure in Canada stopping its export,” NZ Customs intelligence manager Bruce Berry and NZ Police detective inspector Tom Gollan said in a joint statement.
“The risk of transnational organised crime impacts us all. This result really highlights the value of sharing information with international partners to prevent cross-border crime.”
In February, Auckland police and Customs busted a Mexican organised crime group allegedly importing and distributing methamphetamine around the country.
A 36-year-old Mexican national appeared in Auckland District Court on a charge of possession of methamphetamine for supply.
Police arrested a Mexican national after a search warrant at a hotel and Airbnb and found nearly half a million dollars in cash and 14kg of meth.
The meth found had a street value of approximately $4.9 million, police said.
It was the 25th alleged transnational organised crime cell police and Customs have disrupted in five years, director of the national organised crime group Detective Superintendent Greg Williams said.
And in late February, police intercepted the largest-ever shipment of drugs at New Zealand’s border – 613kg worth $245m arriving at Auckland Airport - in a record-breaking bust following a lengthy covert investigation.
Police and Customs intercepted more than 600kg of methamphetamine at Auckland Airport. Photo / NZ Police
Six people had been arrested, including some with links to the Comancheros gang, Operation Weirton police said at the time.
The largest previous shipment of methamphetamine was the 501kg smuggled into New Zealand from a “mothership” off the coast of 90 Mile Beach in Northland in 2016.
In 2019, there was another police investigation where 500kg was smuggled into Whakatāne and a Customs operation where 469kg was stopped at the border.
For many years, the most methamphetamine, also known as P or ice, discovered in one shipment was 96kg hidden in the bottom of green paint tins in Operation Major in 2006.
Two decades after meth took hold here, wastewater data shows New Zealand has failed to curb its devastating popularity.
An estimated 1 per cent of the population collectively spend more than $500m a year on the drug, fuelling a lucrative criminal trade, causing extensive social harm and putting enormous strain on communities.
