Man faces jail over 89kg of P precursor

A man is awaiting sentence for his role in importing pseudoephedrine into New Zealand by hiding 89kg of the drug inside 27 couches and mattresses.

Shimin Li, 45, pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to importing a Class C drug and possession for supply of the drug. The maximum penalty is eight years in jail.

The haul was found on October 14 last year after being shipped to Auckland from the Chinese port of Shekou, Shenzhen, on the Kota Permata.

Customs officials x-rayed the furniture and after identifying packages in the frames, dismantled each one. They discovered 89.1kg of Contac NT granules.

Contac NT is banned in New Zealand and is a key ingredient in P. One kilogram of it, about 5000 capsules, sells for between $15,000 and $35,000.

Police set up a controlled delivery of the shipping container and watched Li open it.

When officers spoke to him, he denied any knowledge of the drugs. He told police he had been approached by a Chinese man who asked him for help with furniture he was importing.

It isn't police and Customs' biggest pseudoephedrine find in this country - in 2006 154kg were discovered hidden in the bottom of tins of green paint.

Li will be sentenced this month.