14 June 2011

Another drug swallower caught at the border – the 10th in 18-months says Customs

Internal smuggling is a polite name for it – “swallowers” is more descriptive. In the last 18-months New Zealand Customs has caught ten of these desperate drug ‘mules’ trying to bring a range of narcotics into the country, inside themselves.

That compares with 1 for all of 2009.

The latest, at Auckland Airport over the weekend, saw a Polish national held in custody while he ‘passed’ 74 plastic pellets containing a total of 370 grams of crystal methamphetamine worth between $220,000 and $370,000 on the street.

New Zealand Customs Acting Comptroller John Secker said that officers at the border and the techniques used to detect swallowers meant the likelihood of successful smuggling like this was low and getting lower.

“These people are paid sums of money which are frankly pathetic compared to the money the criminal syndicate bosses are making. So for a relative pittance they are risking their lives in a very real sense.

“A number of these mules have died in various parts of the world in recent years and while we are pleased at the success we have had in catching them here in New Zealand , the whole thing is a sick and senseless tragedy.

The Minister of Customs, Maurice Williamson said swallowers trying to make money out of misery in New Zealand should expect to be caught.

“Our Customs officers and Police are doing an excellent job and getting better at it all the time,” he said.

Variety of drugs and countries of origin

Mr Secker said the types of drugs being swallowed by smugglers had included cocaine and opium, as well as crystal methamphetamine.

“There has also been a variety of countries the swallowers have arrived from – including South America, Thailand, South Africa, Iran, Dubai, and the United States.

“So it’s clear that a wider range of organised criminal networks are being attracted to the New Zealand drug market and are attempting to set up here,” he said.

“And they are callously sacrificing these mules, of various nationalities, to be caught at the border and suffer the consequences.

Mr Secker said catching them helped avoid the serious harm that drugs like “P” and cocaine do to the community. “But unfortunately it does not avoid the huge cost to New Zealand of legal fees, court processing, and imprisonment for these people before they are returned to their home countries.”

ENDS

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