KEY POINTS:
Police say an English citizen arrested yesterday is the central figure in a drug-selling business in Auckland.
The 38-year-old Englishman was among 12 people arrested for their part in the alleged importation of 100,000 tablets of the party drug ecstasy over the past three months.
The tablets were allegedly hidden in parcels of confectionery and in games from the London department store Harrods.
Investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Cahill said the Englishman, who lived in Auckland, was believed to be the main supplier of the tablets in New Zealand.
Mr Cahill said he would face more than 15 charges of supplying the drug.
Another 38-year-old, an Australian based in New Zealand, faces two charges of importing ecstasy, a class B drug, and a 54-year-old Christchurch man would face charges of supplying ecstasy and possession for supply of the drug.
Eight other New Zealand-based men face charges relating to the supply of ecstasy.
Ten of the people charged have appeared in Auckland District Court and two in Christchurch District Court. All were remanded to reappear on a variety of dates for pre-deposition hearings.
Police seized 14,000 ecstasy tablets and $700,000 cash, including $400,000 in United States currency, as part of the operation.
Mr Cahill said police believed those behind this business had been operating for a number of years and its shutdown would have a significant effect in the supply of ecstasy in New Zealand.
"This operation has identified to police that while their resources have been targeting the high profile methamphetamine trade, other illegal drug activity has also grown and that the use of ecstasy in New Zealand is widespread."
He did not agree people were turning back to it after BZP party pills were made illegal, saying the use of party pills may have encouraged users to sample "the real thing", ecstasy.
- NZPA
