KEY POINTS:
Customs drug enforcement officer Simon Williamson is realistic about winning the war on drugs.
"I don't think we are losing [but] I liken it to a boiling kettle. You can take the lid off every so often, then put it back on and control it again."
Mr Williamson, made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Customs Service, was barely in his 20s when he joined in 1978.
In those days the business of narcotics trafficking was limited to local smugglers, importing mostly heroin and LSD.
Since then, he has seen some "pretty significant changes", such as the frequency and volumes of drug shipments.
Nowadays, the service must contend with organised "transnational" organisations dealing predominantly in methamphetamine of various types.
Cocaine is also becoming more common, as is Ecstasy imported from the Netherlands.
But Mr Williamson says if the number of drug seizures is increasing, so is the amount of co-operation between individual agencies and countries.
New Zealand agencies now have a presence in several countries, including China, and that is making a big difference when it comes to tracking down the international drug bosses and "taking the head off the snake".
The presence of those offices is invaluable, allowing Kiwi cops to "go after the Mr Bigs".
"Drug trafficking has many victims. The people who carry the drugs are minnows in those syndicates.
"If you don't take out the organisers, they will keep coming ... they are ruthless."
Mr Williamson was involved with the development of the Customs Drug Enforcement Strategy in 2003 and represents the Customs Service on several inter-agency and international committees and special projects.
But when he is not waging war on narcotics importers in his capacity as Customs manager for northern ports, Mr Williamson, 49, is a keen touch football player and rugby supporter.
He is also a family man.
"When you have two grandchildren, you actually get a lot of satisfaction knowing that the society they will grow up in is not inundated with harmful drugs."
