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An international drug syndicate busted in Queenstown was allegedly using human mules and the postal service to import tonnes of ecstasy into the resort town.
The scale of the operation has astounded police, who believe some of the alleged mules were holiday-makers examining for fast cash to pay for their winter getaway.
“We were quite amazed at the scale of this syndicate.
“We know people have in the past come here and financed their winter holidays by bringing in small amounts of [drugs] and selling them to supplement their stay here but we never imagined it was on this kind of scale,” said Queenstown detective sergeant Grahme Bartlett. . Queenstown is a party town, a tourist town, and clearly Class A, Class B and Class C drugs are available but . we’re quite staggered by how much is coming in. .
The seven, who appeared in court last week and were granted name suppression, are alleged to be part of an international drug syndicate that has been smuggling drugs into Queenstown from Vancouver, Canada.”
Last week police seized $108,000 worth of Ecstasy when they raided properties in Otago and Christchurch and arrested seven people – three in Queenstown, one in Christchurch, one in Oamaru and two in Dunedin – for importing, producing and selling the Class B drug.
“They have been using two forms of importing – human couriers, which we refer to as mules, and using the international mail system,” said Bartlett. The syndicate has been under covert police surveillance since mid- year.”
Bartlett would not comment on the nationalities of those allegedly acting as mules but said the syndicate had links to Australia and Bali, as well as Vancouver. “Customs at the airports throughout New Zealand do a fantastic job at the border but there is always people out there devising ways and means to circumvent the systems. “We’re satisfied we’ve got the four main players .
Police inquiries were continuing and more arrests were likely. . . There will be people in Queenstown today extremely concerned because we have a list of people we know have been procuring this Class B drug and they will get picked up over the next month or two. now we’re examining at the lower level suppliers and purchasers of these drugs.
“They tell me they have an almost out-of-control drug culture there. . In Vancouver they are about $5. Over here an ecstasy tablet costs between $70 and $90.”