Immigration raid nets six ship-jumpers

Six Vietnamese ship-jumpers have been found in an Immigration Service raid.

The six, whom the Immigration Service says had been working picking apples in Hawke's Bay, were found at an address in Hastings on Monday.

Others fled, but it was not clear how many had been staying at the property, which the Immigration Service declined to identify.

The Immigration Service said the six had all absconded from ships at Lyttelton and Timaru late last year.

Officers in the raid were acting on information in an anonymous letter.

The ship-jumpers had been picking apples, as were four Chinese nationals and an Indian also caught in Hawke's Bay in an ongoing operation this week.

The Chinese had entered the country as students.

Nine of the people appeared in the Napier District Court yesterday, and were remanded in custody for a week to facilitate their departures from New Zealand.

- NZPA