NZ 'USED AS DRUGS HUB'

Australian police believe New Zealand is being used as a hub for
trafficking amphetamine drugs from Asia.

However, police and Customs officials here say they are unaware of
the alleged role New Zealand plays in the lucrative international "ice" trade.

A New South Wales police report, publicised in The Australian
newspaper, claims most of the ice - a purer form of amphetamine
similar to pure methamphetamine (P) - entering Australia comes
through New Zealand after being produced in China, the Philippines,
Malaysia and Fiji.

Australians are the world's biggest ecstasy users and second-biggest
amphetamine users, according to last year's United Nations World Drug Report.

The report found methamphetamine production in Oceania was
concentrated in Australia and at a lower level in New Zealand.

But while ice is widely available in New Zealand, authorities claim
they are unaware of the country's role in trafficking the drug.

New Zealand Customs investigations and response group manager Paul
Campbell said the department had not intercepted crystal
methamphetamine or ice destined for Australia.

"We have made interceptions of other illicit drugs destined for
Australia, but these seizures are not major in international
drug-trafficking terms," he said.

"We have no evidence to suggest that New Zealand is a major
trafficking hub for illicit drugs destined for Australia."

Detective Inspector Don Allan, of the New Zealand police National
Bureau of Crime Intelligence, said New Zealand was not playing a
major role in trafficking ice into Australia.

"Police are aware of isolated incidents of people travelling through
New Zealand and have ended up in Australia with small amounts of
methamphetamine powder," Allan said. "However, there is no evidence
to suggest New Zealand is seen as a major transit point of ice into Australia."

New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said New
Zealand was often used as a stop-off point for trafficking drugs to
other countries, including Australia.

"The drugs that have been seized in New Zealand ports and airports
aren't usually destined for the New Zealand market," Bell said.

He said drug trafficking through New Zealand was bringing in the
ingredients to make amphetamines and the finished products.

It often involved using Chinese students as couriers for Asian crime groups.

Bell said international traffickers may have seen New Zealand Customs
as a soft option in the past, but increasing restrictions and
emphasis on stopping the drug supply were changing that perception.

New Zealand Customs and police in December last year busted an Asian
crime ring operating in Christchurch and Wellington that had been
dealing with over $100,000 of methamphetamine weekly in New Zealand.

Raids on properties in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland found
quantities of P worth over $400,000.

Sixteen people from Christchurch and two from Wellington were charged
in relation to the bust.

The Australian Customs Service would not comment on the effectiveness
of New Zealand Customs in preventing drugs from heading to Australia.

"We are of course aware of many different routes involving criminal
importation into Australia of drugs by couriers and syndicates and we
work in strong co-operation with fellow Customs agencies to control
this," an Australian Customs Service spokesman said.

Ice users are known as "skaters", and Detective Senior Sergeant Dave
Long, of the Christchurch police drug squad, said ice was widely
available in New Zealand, but police had yet to find a laboratory
specifically for manufacturing ice here.

He said one point, or one-tenth of a gram, of ice sold for about $100.

Campbell said Customs worked with police to counter drug trafficking
in New Zealand through using intelligence and information from
international law-enforcement agencies and through passenger and
baggage searches.