SOME FOREIGN STUDENTS 'HERE TO SELL DRUGS'

Police And Customs Note Market For Deals

Christchurch: More foreign students are using drugs and some appear to be
trafficking drugs, police and customs officials say.

Customs national investigations manager Matthew Roseingrave confirmed
foreign students had been caught bringing drugs into New Zealand.

"The recent ones we've had have been the stimulant types of substances:
amphetamine and methamphetamine."

There was no discernible trend of trafficking among foreign students but
some were clearly not genuine students, he said.

"'Student' can be a cover. They're not traditional students as we know them."

A Christchurch high school teacher, who did not want to be named, said some
students appeared to be coming to the city primarily to sell drugs.

"We have strong suspicions but it's very difficult to prove.

"They might be absolutely hopeless at school but they stay, anyway, because
they have another agenda - they're here to sell drugs."

Detective Sergeant George Koria, head of the Auckland Asian Crime Unit, had
no doubt that some foreign students were trafficking drugs, particularly
ecstasy.

"There's a reasonable market for that within the Asian student groups.

"At some stage, someone was going to recognise that and exploit it," he said.

"We've got information that the kids are using the drug. How exactly
they're getting it into the country, we don't know."

Detective Sergeant Peter Boyd, head of Christchurch's Asian Crime Unit,
said no foreign students had been arrested for dealing drugs in
Christchurch but they had been arrested for possession.

He warned that drug use among foreign students was becoming more prevalent.

The New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) revokes students' permits when
they have been convicted of a crime or when they breach the conditions of
their permit and an education institute has expelled them.

In the period from July 1 last year to March 1 this year, 139 students have
had their permits revoked.

A spokesman for the service, Ian Smith, said anecdotal evidence suggested
that the biggest problems with student permit holders was working illegally
beyond the allowable 15 hours a week, not attending courses, and after
arrival going into an NZIS office and getting their permit changed to a
visitor permit.

Given the significant increase in numbers of students in the past few
years, it was considered that the risks were being managed well, he said.