Customs has arrested a 26-year-old Christchurch man, who was due to appear in the Christchurch District Court today (17 June 2025) on four charges of importing methamphetamine hidden in a chess set, e bike battery and air fryers.

Customs’ investigations linked the defendant to multiple border seizures of methamphetamine smuggled through international mail between March 2024 and April 2025 with the packages delivered to Christchurch addresses.

“Customs has kept track of the smuggling effort since early 2024 when frontline officers at the International Mail Centre started intercepting consignments from the United States,” says Acting Investigations Manager Matthew Green.

“Customs investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant’s address this morning where we arrested him and seized his mobile phone and laptop for further forensic examination.

“The mail system is a common method for drug smugglers to send relatively small amounts of illicit drugs in frequent consignments. Every seizure is carefully recorded, and it is only a matter of time before this leads to an arrest and prosecution.

“Customs analytical expertise and risk assessment capabilities, which have been further enhanced with the recent opening of the new Auckland Processing Centre, mean we are better equipped than ever to detect such attempts.”

Customs has linked four interceptions totalling approximately 1.64 kilograms of methamphetamine to this investigation. This amount of drugs would have had a street value of an estimated NZ$494,000, and these seizures have prevented an estimated NZ$1.73 million of harm and cost to New Zealand communities.

© Scoop Media