Sightings of P-case couple prove false

Hong Quin Huang (left) and Jian Zhong Xie

Police looking for a Chinese couple wanted on drugs charges who skipped bail had a setback yesterday after they had to eliminate two possible sightings of the pair.

It now appears that a couple seen driving a silver "people-mover" car in Whakatane on Wednesday were not Jian Zong Xie, 36, and Hong Quin Huang, 34, says Detective Sheree Gray of the Auckland police drug squad.

Xie and Huang face charges of importing drugs to manufacture up to $15 million of the drug P.

Police are worried the pair may try to flee to China, either by using false passports or by boat.

"We've received information this afternoon that the people spotted in Whakatane were two people with a very close similarity in looks to the ones we are looking for," Mrs Gray said.

Police still thought a sighting that was reported near Tauranga on Wednesday was accurate, she said.

Though there have been no sightings of the pair since Wednesday, police believe they are still in the country.

Mrs Gray said there was a chance that they might have headed back to Auckland.

"We do have some information which leads us to believe they may have come back to Auckland, but that's definitely not confirmed," she said.

"We haven't had any confirmed sightings since Wednesday so we're desperately seeking some more sightings of them."

Information from within the Chinese community suggested they were still here, Mrs Gray said.

All ports had been alerted given the likelihood the fugitives would try to get back to China.

Xie and Huang were arrested in December after police discovered pseudoephedrine, which is used to make P, and blank credit cards under their house.

Bail was not opposed when the pair appeared on December 21 as neither had a criminal record here and their passports had been seized.

- NZPA