Record cocaine seizure in Auckland

NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand police have seized a record NZ$14 million worth of cocaine hidden inside a large diamante-encrusted horse head from Mexico.

The largest-ever haul of the drug in New Zealand has been linked to the rebuild of the city of Christchurch, severely damaged in a 2011 earthquake, and the Australian market.

The horse sculpture, which weighed 365 kilograms, was destined for an address in Te Atatu, Auckland.

The cocaine, which sells for about $400 a gram on the street, was packaged in one kilogram bricks.

Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas, from the organised crime unit, said they were still working to establish the final destination of the haul.

“This is a significant win for New Zealand,” she said.

“This is a great success, we should be proud to have detected it at the earliest of stages.”

The 35-kilogram shipment had been air-freighted from Mexico to Auckland where it was detected in the bejewelled horse-head statue in May.

Following a six-week investigation, a Mexican and an American were arrested in Auckland over the weekend as they prepared to fly to Hawai‘i and another Mexican was detained in Christchurch.

Police believe at least some of the drug was destined for Christchurch which has attracted workers from around the world to get involved in the rebuild over recent years.

Detective Superintendent Le Bas said some people in Christchurch were using the drug and the rebuild had created a change in demand for some illicit substances.

Experts say the availability of hard drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamine in the city appears to be on the rise, bucking trends in other parts of the country.

Massey University drug researcher Dr Chris Wilkins said the rebuild had attracted a lot of young men from all over the world who had a taste for A class drugs and were likely fuelling demand.

As a result, some local Christchurch gangs had been absorbed by national groups, like the Head Hunters, Rebels and Bandidos, to allow the trafficking of drugs all over New Zealand.

Wilkins said the drug may also have been destined for Australia where demand is high in cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

- ABC