Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 Source: Press, The (New Zealand) Copyright: 2003 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd. Contact: http://www.press.co.nz/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/349 Author: Jarrod Booker NZ TARGET FOR DRUG SYNDICATES - CUSTOMS New Zealand has become a target for international drug trafficking syndicates, the Customs service warns. Customs manager of drug investigations Simon Williamson said this trend was reflected by the increase in the number of large drug seizures made at New Zealand borders. "It is an alarming development in the New Zealand drug scene," Mr Williamson said. In the year ended June 30, 2003, Customs made 28 major seizures of controlled drugs entering New Zealand. As a result, 43 people were arrested. Of these, 21 were drug couriers. Included in the seizures was more than 265,000 tablets of Ecstasy, 941g of crystal methamphetamine, 964g of amphetamine, 217g of cocaine, and 233g of heroin. "The significant increase in big seizures indicates to us that we are being targeted by transnational drug trafficking syndicates who have identified New Zealand as being viable," Mr Williamson said. "Ecstasy has spiralled to an all-time high." Of the 28 major seizures in the last financial year, almost all were made at Auckland International Airport or the International Mail Centre. However, one was made at Christchurch International Airport. Three of the large amounts of drugs seized were destined for the South Island. "We know we are not getting it all. In fact, we estimate we are only getting about 20 per cent of it," Mr Williamson said. The Government had provided an additional $1.9m to Customs to combat the importing of illegal drugs. "We have looked into the (drug) interceptions in the last 30 years and we found that 70-plus per cent were from an informed basis, which means we knew where to look rather than an intuitive search at an airport," Mr Williamson said. "We know now we should concentrate on the pro-active side of the business, which means more working with police and increasing our ability to stop a greater percentage of drugs coming in." - --- MAP posted-by: Josh