FLOOD OF DRUGS SWAMPS CUSTOMS

New Zealand is facing a rising tide of hard drugs smuggled by international
networks.

Seizures of heroin and cocaine by the Customs Service have skyrocketed, but
Customs estimates it is picking up only about 20 per cent of the drugs
smuggled into the country.

Seizures in the year ended June 30, 2004, included:

22 kilograms of cocaine (up from 217 grams the previous year).

More than 1kg of heroin (up from 233g).

3kg of crystal methamphetamine (up from 941g).

1.2 million tablets of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine used for making
methamphetamine (up from 670,784).

Seizures of MDMA (ecstasy) bucked the trend and fell from 265,447 to
180,000 tablets in the latest financial year.

Customs drug investigations manager Simon Williamson said an increased
supply of imported drugs in New Zealand was undoubtedly a result of
increased demand.

New Zealand was also being used as a transit point for drugs intended for
bigger markets such as Australia, and this raised the risk of "spillover"
into New Zealand society.

"When international drug law enforcement authorities were told of our
recent drug seizure statistics, they agreed that this signified
international drug-trafficking networks at work," Mr Williamson said.

However, the big increases in seizures also reflected Customs "being more
successful at what we are doing".

This meant keeping pace with the methods of drug traffickers and trying to
combat them.

The rise in precursor substances for methamphetamine reflected the big
demand in New Zealand for "amphetamine-type substances". A crackdown on
access to the tablets in New Zealand meant methamphetamine manufacturers
were having to look overseas for their ingredients.

"It was pretty predictable that was going to happen," Mr Williamson said.

"We are now endeavouring with police to identify who (the dealers) are."
Simon Adamson, of the National Addiction Centre in Christchurch, said abuse
of cocaine and heroin was small in New Zealand compared with other drugs.

No sign of increased use of either drug was obvious but any increase would
take time to flow through to people seeking treatment, Dr Adamson said.

"If people are using heroin or cocaine, inevitably they have been users in
Australia or the United States or another country before coming here."

The methamphetamine abuse problem showed no sign of letting up, Dr Adamson
said.

"It is the third-most-common drug of people presenting for treatment behind
alcohol and cannabis. But it has a long way to go before it passes cannabis."