A combined Police and Customs operation has resulted in a large imported quantity of the drug precursor pseudoephedrine, in its powder form, being found at a Napier house last night.
Drug precursors are chemical substances, such as pseudoephedrine, which are frequently used in the illegal production of methamphetamine or ¡®P¡¯.
Detective Sergeant Daryl Moore of Napier CIB said Police and Customs staff raided the Napier house late last night.
The joint operation was mounted when Customs intercepted a parcel at the Auckland International Mail Centre. The parcel was addressed to a Napier house and had been posted from Thailand.
Police and Customs also found methamphetamine at the house with an estimated street value of more than $90,000, plus around $2000 worth of cannabis leaf, Mr Moore said.
Mark Day, Customs Manager Drug Investigations said the number of interceptions being made at the border continues to rise.
¡°In the last five to six years border seizures of such precursors have increased by 1200 percent.
¡°One way we see is importation through the mail and courier services with drugs delivered to private properties.
¡°This is a trade driven by greed and it feeds off the misery of people in the New Zealand community."
A 54-year-old Hastings man and his 52-year-old Thai national wife are due to appear in the Napier District Court this afternoon. The couple have been charged with:
Importing a Class C controlled drug - pseudoephedrine
Possession for supply Class A drug - methamphetamine
Possession for supply Class C drug ¨C cannabis
-ends-
NOTE: PIKS NOT AVAILABLE
For more information please contact:
or Kris McGehan
027 2223638
Nikki Hooper - Customs
04 4620117 or 029 4620117