White-collar drug syndicate busted

A 55-year-old company director is one of several people due in court after police searched 10 places in inner city Auckland today and broke a white collar drug ring.

Police and customs drug officers arrested six people on a variety of drug dealing offences, Counties Manukau police district head Superintendent Ted Cox said.

"This police operation, code-named Aqua, shows that certain drugs are readily available to all spectrums of society and dealing may not be limited to those in the criminal underworld or in gang circles," he said.

The company director, who was due to appear in Auckland District Court today, was alleged to be "at the top end of the drug ring", police said.

He faced numerous charges of supplying or conspiracy to supply methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis.

Police said others charged were at the lower end of the supply chain, allegedly dealing with groups of close friends or acquaintances.

Mr Cox said the arrests reinforced some of the findings in the report commissioned by police last year into amphetamine type stimulant (ATS) use in New Zealand.

"The report indicated availability of these types of drugs as 'easy' or 'very easy' and that ATS drug use is prevalent across the community not just in the criminal world.

"The study showed a percentage of ATS drug users had high levels of fulltime employment, came from a range of occupational backgrounds including professionals, earned mid-level incomes and had relatively high levels of educational achievement," Mr Cox said.

He said the increasing prevalence of drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy required a multi-pronged approach to reduce the long-term effects on society.

A fortnight ago Customs officers at Auckland International Airport, stopped two Malaysian men in their 50s who were carrying two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

Simon Williamson, customs drug investigations manager, said both men were on a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

The drugs were strapped to their torsos. They were arrested and charged with importing drugs into New Zealand. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

In 2004-2005 73 significant drug seizures were made at New Zealand's border, compared with 32 the year before.

- NZPA