Mega meth bust: Harpreet Lidder pleads guilty to importing drugs

The electric motors being examined. Photo / Customs

A New Zealand man has pleaded guilty to importing Class A drugs after one of Customs' largest-ever drug busts at the border.

Harpreet Lidder pleaded guilty to four charges of importing methamphetamine and MDMA and possessing the drugs for supply in the Auckland High Court this morning.

Lidder pleaded guilty to importing close to 14kgs of methamphetamine and 2kgs of MDMA.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Lidder appeared in the High Court this morning via video link.

The guilty plea came after Customs seized nearly half a tonne of methamphetamine stashed inside a shipment of electric motors last year. Two other people, both Canadians, have been charged over the importation. Lidder's charges related to close to 14kgs of the bust.

The estimated 469kg haul was Customs' largest ever meth seizure at the border and had a street value of about $235 million.

Customs began an investigation last year targeting an overseas criminal syndicate, and inquiries linked individuals to a New Zealand-based company.

By mid August, a shipment from Thailand was assessed as high-risk and searched by Customs officers when it arrived at the Ports of Auckland.

The shipping container held 60 electric motors, and each motor hid an average of around 8kg of methamphetamine.

At the time, Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry called it "an extremely sophisticated and complex importation" scheme run by an organised criminal syndicate.

About 65 Customs and police staff conducted search raids across nine Auckland properties finding another 15kg of methamphetamine, a hand gun, and a large quantity of cash.

Based on wastewater analysis data, police estimated that the importation equated to between 22 and 26 weeks' supply of national meth consumption.