Police greet Aussie arrival in Auckland with 55 money-laundering charges

Cash seized in 2021 as part of Operation Worthington.

An Australian resident's New Zealand trip was over before it began last week after they were met by Auckland police at the border and charged with dozens of money-laundering offences.

The 32-year-old was arrested by officers at Auckland Airport on Friday soon after his flight from Sydney landed, police told the Herald.

He faces 55 money-laundering charges and a further four of attempting to import methamphetamine.

The man was arrested as part of the police National Organised Crime Group's Operation Worthington.

That operation came to a head last year when police swooped on homes across Auckland, arresting 21 people and seizing 44kg of methamphetamine.

They also seized close to a million dollars worth of cash, while the police Asset Recovery Unit seized eight properties, a car park and four luxury vehicles.

The airport arrest of the 32-year-old man came more than a year after those raids and was followed by the arrest of a 35-year-old woman who also faces drug-dealing and money-laundering charges linked to Operation Worthington.

The man appeared in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday afternoon, represented by lawyer Bradley Moyer.

Judge Evangelos Thomas initially declined the man's application for name suppression but he cannot yet be named because Moyer indicated he will appeal against that decision.

Judge Thomas declined to grant the man ordinary bail and remanded him in custody ahead of a July 29 electronically monitored bail application hearing. The man did not enter a plea.

Meth seized in 2021 as part of Operation Worthington.

Detective Inspector Paul Newman said at the time of last year's raids the investigation first focused on a group of people allegedly laundering millions of dollars in cash obtained from offending in New Zealand.

However, detectives then established the group was allegedly part of a wider, sophisticated drug importation syndicate, Newman said.

"This operation is all about preventing harm in our communities. We have followed the money and it has led us to substantial drug offending.

"Money has been their weakness. It is hard to conceal and our investigation has exploited this."