4 Japanese arrested for drug trafficking in New Zealand

4 Japanese arrested for drug trafficking in New Zealand
Saturday 14th November, 06:38 AM JST

AUCKLAND —
Four Japanese nationals arriving in New Zealand via Malaysia have been arrested for allegedly smuggling 6 kilograms of methamphetamine with a street value of up to NZ$6 million (U.S.$4.4 million), police said Friday.

Authorities said they believe that with this interception, the largest methamphetamine haul this year, they have disrupted a major methamphetamine importing operation with links to Malaysia.

The three men and one woman appeared in court Thursday and were remanded in police custody until early December. They face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.

Police said that Kazuhiko Takiguchi, 39, and his wife, Takako Takiguchi, 31, arrived at Auckland International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning after having traveled from Malaysia via Singapore.

They were arrested after some 2 kg of methamphetamine, also known as ‘‘ice’’ or ‘‘crystal,’’ was found in their false-bottom suitcase, having been carefully concealed in the lining of the bag.

The other two Japanese—Yoshinori Tanakawa, 42, and another man identified as ‘‘Toshiyuka’’ Toda, 50—were arrested Wednesday after arriving at the same airport from Malaysia via Sydney. They each carried 2 kg of crystal methamphetamine in their luggage.

Police then carried out a controlled delivery of the drugs to a hotel in Auckland, where they arrested two New Zealand men of Iranian descent.

The smuggling attempts have been linked to an organized drug importation ring involving Iranian suppliers based in Malaysia who courier the drugs to New Zealanders of Iranian descent, police said.

They said all four Japanese suspected drug couriers are known to have been living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Their arrests come just days after a 35-year-old Japanese woman was formally charged in Malaysia with trafficking 4.7 kg of methamphetamine into the country. She faces death by hanging if convicted.

‘‘This seizure is the result of meticulous intelligence gathering that spanned the world,’’ Customs Minister Maurice Williamson said in a statement.

‘‘It sends a strong signal to those who try to bring drugs into New Zealand that there is a good chance their drugs will be found and they will be caught,’’ he said.

Police Minister Judith Collins congratulated all of those involved in the busts, saying, ‘‘This interception shows the great results that can be achieved when agencies work together on stamping out the drugs trade.’‘

‘‘The effect of these drugs would have been devastating had they made it through the net into our community,’’ she said.

The arrests were part of a joint operation between police and the New Zealand Customs Service, codenamed Operation Rapid.

In an interview with Television New Zealand last month, Prime Minister John Key called methamphetamine, better known as ‘‘P’’ in New Zealand, a ‘‘scourge…running through the heart’’ of the country.

He noted that an estimated 2% of the adult population, or some 55,000 people, are methamphetamine users, putting New Zealand among the top three developed countries in terms of the severity of its methamphetamine problem.

Key has directed the New Zealand Customs Service to mobilize 40 officers with new intelligence devices and new techniques to help combat the problem.