Operation Freya - Police And Customs Nab Over $8 Million Worth Of Drugs
Police and Customs have this week dismantled a
sophisticated drug dealing and
smuggling operation
making 12 arrests and seizing $8 million worth of
drugs
in the process.
Police and Customs have
executed 11 search warrants in relation to
Operation
Freya— a six-month-long investigation
led by the newly established
Northland District
Police Organised Crime Unit.
The operation was set up
to investigate the smuggling of drugs
from
international destinations, including Africa,
and the subsequent sale and
supply in New Zealand.
It stems from seizure information that
Customs
regularly shares with Police, which showed
that a number of drug packages
were destined for
Northland.
Between March 2020 – June 2021, Customs
intercepted 15 separate air cargo
or mail
consignments, the drugs were found hidden in a range of
concealments
such as books, clothing and framed
art.
Search warrants took place across Northland
including Morningside, Rāwhiti,
Ruakākā and
Whananaki, as well as Rotorua.
Eleven men aged between
27 and 56, and a 25-year-old woman have been
arrested
so far.
They are set to face a raft
of serious drugs charges relating to
the
importation, manufacturing, and supply of
methamphetamine.
Other charges include conspiring to
import methamphetamine, MDMA and
pseudoephedrine,
as well as participating in an organised crime
group.
Overall 17kg of methamphetamine, 5.44kg of MDMA
and a kg of pseudoephedrine
were seized, which are
worth a combined value of $8m in street value.
Those
charged are set to appear in Whangārei District Court
tomorrow, on 13
November. Further arrests cannot be
ruled out at this stage.
Police have also restrained
around $240,000 worth of assets, including
a
motorbike, boat and vehicles, under the Criminal
Proceeds (Recovery) Act.
Around $70,000 in cash, and a
quantity of methamphetamine along with two
firearms
and ammunition were also seized.
Detective Inspector
Bridget Doell says the investigation identified
an
alleged criminal syndicate based in Ruakākā,
whose key leaders were in the
Headhunters
Motorcycle Gang and Mongrel Mob organised criminal
group.
“The syndicate’s offending spread across
New Zealand and those arrested
today were allegedly
involved in a variety of roles and levels of
culpability
across this
syndicate.
“Ultimately, they have allegedly tried to
import, manufacture or on-sell
drugs into the
Northland market, which currently has some of the highest
drug
use per capita wastewater readings in New
Zealand.”
Detective Inspector Doell says closing
this operation down, has prevented
approximately
$25 million worth of social harm across the Northland
district
“Methamphetamine use is unfortunately a
major driver of crime across the
Northland
District. Drug users are known to commit high volume crimes
- such
as car thefts, burglaries, and fraud – in
a bid to fund their drug
habits.
“Criminal
groups hurt communities by exploiting people's drug
addictions
– profiting as they did so. They have
little regard for the devastation or
harm caused to
vulnerable people in our community who are addicted to
drugs.
“Having a relative, friend, or neighbour who
is addicted to methamphetamine
doesn't just affect
them, it affects everyone around them, and the impact
is
significant.”
Customs Group Manager
Intelligence, Investigations & Enforcement
Dana
McDonald says Customs continues to working
closely with law enforcement
partners globally to
disrupt the transnational movement and supply
of
controlled drugs, and the harm this causes
within our communities.
“Organised criminal groups
may think that law enforcement doesn’t care
about
small drug packages – but it all adds up, and it’s only
matter of
time before they are held to account. In
this case, we are pleased to have
worked with
Police to share our specialist capabilities and expertise to
do
just this.
“Customs actively targets all
risk shipments – via sea, air or mail –
and is
determined to work with our partners, both here and
offshore, to make
maximum impact in dismantling the
organised criminal groups that are
involved,” Mr
McDonald says.
Police enforcement ultimately disrupts
and reduces the distribution of
harmful drugs that
our younger generation use.
“Police will continue to
target those who illegally accumulate assets
and
wealth through the sale of illicit drugs,”
says Detective Inspector Doell.
“We want to help
build resilient communities that thrive in the absence
of
illicit drugs and drug-related
offending.”
Detective Inspector Doell says the
future focus for the district is to
encourage
communities to come forward and seek assistance from
agencies if
they have family members, loved ones
involved in drug use, and
criminal
activities.
Police encourage anyone
with information about suspected drug dealing
in
their community to contact 105, or Crime
Stoppers anonymously via 0800
555
111.