Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 Source: Press, The (New Zealand) Copyright: 2006 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd. Contact: http://www.press.co.nz/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/349 Author: Janine Bennetts Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) NZ 'USED AS DRUGS HUB' Australian police believe New Zealand is being used as a hub for trafficking amphetamine drugs from Asia. However, police and Customs officials here say they are unaware of the alleged role New Zealand plays in the lucrative international "ice" trade. A New South Wales police report, publicised in The Australian newspaper, claims most of the ice - a purer form of amphetamine similar to pure methamphetamine (P) - entering Australia comes through New Zealand after being produced in China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Fiji. Australians are the world's biggest ecstasy users and second-biggest amphetamine users, according to last year's United Nations World Drug Report. The report found methamphetamine production in Oceania was concentrated in Australia and at a lower level in New Zealand. But while ice is widely available in New Zealand, authorities claim they are unaware of the country's role in trafficking the drug. New Zealand Customs investigations and response group manager Paul Campbell said the department had not intercepted crystal methamphetamine or ice destined for Australia. "We have made interceptions of other illicit drugs destined for Australia, but these seizures are not major in international drug-trafficking terms," he said. "We have no evidence to suggest that New Zealand is a major trafficking hub for illicit drugs destined for Australia." Detective Inspector Don Allan, of the New Zealand police National Bureau of Crime Intelligence, said New Zealand was not playing a major role in trafficking ice into Australia. "Police are aware of isolated incidents of people travelling through New Zealand and have ended up in Australia with small amounts of methamphetamine powder," Allan said. "However, there is no evidence to suggest New Zealand is seen as a major transit point of ice into Australia." New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said New Zealand was often used as a stop-off point for trafficking drugs to other countries, including Australia. "The drugs that have been seized in New Zealand ports and airports aren't usually destined for the New Zealand market," Bell said. He said drug trafficking through New Zealand was bringing in the ingredients to make amphetamines and the finished products. It often involved using Chinese students as couriers for Asian crime groups. Bell said international traffickers may have seen New Zealand Customs as a soft option in the past, but increasing restrictions and emphasis on stopping the drug supply were changing that perception. New Zealand Customs and police in December last year busted an Asian crime ring operating in Christchurch and Wellington that had been dealing with over $100,000 of methamphetamine weekly in New Zealand. Raids on properties in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland found quantities of P worth over $400,000. Sixteen people from Christchurch and two from Wellington were charged in relation to the bust. The Australian Customs Service would not comment on the effectiveness of New Zealand Customs in preventing drugs from heading to Australia. "We are of course aware of many different routes involving criminal importation into Australia of drugs by couriers and syndicates and we work in strong co-operation with fellow Customs agencies to control this," an Australian Customs Service spokesman said. Ice users are known as "skaters", and Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Long, of the Christchurch police drug squad, said ice was widely available in New Zealand, but police had yet to find a laboratory specifically for manufacturing ice here. He said one point, or one-tenth of a gram, of ice sold for about $100. Campbell said Customs worked with police to counter drug trafficking in New Zealand through using intelligence and information from international law-enforcement agencies and through passenger and baggage searches. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom