Young Vietnamese couple in custody over $11.6m worth of meth intercepted by Customs

Home water system hiding 3.8kg worth of methamphetamine. Photo / Supplied

A young Vietnamese couple appeared in the Auckland District Court today, facing multiple charges over a haul of methamphetamine packages intercepted by Customs.

Between January and March this year Customs officers found 11.6kg of meth hidden in three innocent-looking packages sent from Canada.

The drug stash, which has a potential street value of up to $11.6 million, was hidden in a home drinking water system and two consignments of alloy wheel trims.

Although the packages had different names and addresses of Auckland inner-city apartments, Customs' investigation linked them to the 23-year-old Vietnamese man and 25-year-old Vietnamese woman living in one of the apartments.

The couple were arrested after Customs searched their apartment on March 31 and found a further 900 grams of meth, 800 grams of cannabis, $13,000 in cash, used zip-lock bags, an electronic scale, and a meth pipe.

Several electronic devices and two cars were also taken to be examined.

The man and woman remain in custody and are due to reappear in court on May 2.

Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry said criminals keep trying different tactics for smuggling drugs into the country, but Customs keeps track of their tricks.

The four-month operation "serves as a warning to those who think smuggling is a lucrative business - it's not worth the risk".