Maf manager jailed over drug ring

A former MAF biosecurity information manager has been jailed for his part in a fantasy importation ring.

Muhammed Yusuf Alan Bates, 39, IT consultant of Wellington, was sentenced in Wellington District Court yesterday to four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to six charges of being a party to the importation of the drug fantasy, the Dominion Post reported.

Judge Denys Barry said Bates, who lost his job after his arrest, arranged addresses and recruited people to receive packages filled with fantasy from China.

He originally used his own address but later brought three people into the drug ring.

Packages Bates had involvement with included 14 parcels containing 139 litres of liquid fantasy with a street value of between $696,000 and $1.39 million. He sent text messages checking on packages' arrivals.

- NZPA