Smuggler swallows $600k worth of P

File Photo / NZ Herald

A woman who swallowed up to $600,000 worth of pure methamphetamine in an attempt to smuggle it into New Zealand has been arrested at Auckland airport.

Customs officers said the woman was carrying 570g of crystal methamphetamine inside her body in 40 pellets when she arrived last week.

The woman, a South African national, was targeted as a potential drug smuggler by customs officers. When they searched her a body scan revealed 40 latex pellets in her body.

Two men were also arrested and charged with conspiracy to import P after the police connected them to the woman.

A Nigerian and a South African, they were believed to have been travelling on false passports.

They were identified when they visited the woman. Both men appeared in court earlier this week and were remanded on bail.

Customs said since September officers had caught seven "swallowers" carrying drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and opium.

In a statement Customs said the dramatic increase in that method of transportation appeared "to be driven by the activities of several transnational criminal networks".

Methamphetamine sold in New Zealand for around $1000 per gram, giving the smuggled drugs a street value of up to $600,000.

Customs Minister Maurice Williamson said customs officers would persist to stop the "scoundrels" bringing the menace into New Zealand.

Customs officers said the risk of swallowing drugs was highlighted by the death in Thailand recently of an Iranian-born New Zealander who tried to smuggle P internally out of Thailand. His body was returned to New Zealand last month.

- NZPA

- this story has been amended from an earlier version to clarify that the total amount of methamphetamine found inside the woman was 570g.