Criminals using border workers to get drugs into NZ 'well on the rise'

• Customs say organised crime groups are increasingly targeting border workers to allow drug shipments to slip into the country
• Last week three men with links to a Mexican crime syndicate were arrested for their involvement in importing nearly 180kg of methamphetamine
• People without criminal connections are targeted as 'clean skins' and exploited for their access to systems and restricted areas
• Manager of intelligence, Bruce Berry says there is little evidence of higher up corruption but the agency would be 'naive' to rule out the possibility

Organised crime groups are targeting border workers with access to systems and restricted areas to allow drug shipments to slip through the border, Customs New Zealand says.

A new report made public under the Official Information Act shows the risk of 'trusted insiders' is growing as organised criminal gangs expand within New Zealand.

Last week, three men were arrested after allegedly importing and distributing nearly 180 kilograms of methamphetamine through a Mexican crime syndicate operating out of central Auckland.

Customs NZ manager of intelligence Bruce Berry said Customs was ahead of the game in that instance, but the incident is indicative of a growing threat in New Zealand.

"What we are seeing is increasing use of people within the border systems. That's shipping lines, freight forwarders, warehouse people, freight and logistics being used to manipulate and allow access shipments to facilitate drug importations. That is definitely well on the rise.

"They're using their position to be able to access restricted areas of the airport and the aircraft - to facilitate the what we call 'a rip' - where they will have an unmanifested bag, for example, so Customs isn't even aware of that bag being on the aircraft. Then they will manipulate their access to be able to remove that bag without without it undergoing security," Berry said.

He said the tactic has been used for a long time and was difficult to defeat.

"The risk is real and to be fair, the reason that cartels, the transnational organised crime group and the organised crime groups in New Zealand use this methodology is because it works," Berry said.

In late 2021, 14 people, including six baggage handlers working for Air New Zealand and three King Cobra gang members were charged over their involvement in a drug importation ring believed by police to have conspired to import more than 100kg of methamphetamine.

In February, a former Air New Zealand baggage handler was jailed for 14 years for drug smuggling after customs intercepted a passenger with nearly 20kg of methamphetamine in his carry-on suitcase in 2020.

Berry said people were most commonly influenced by offers of easy money or manipulated through family with links to criminal groups, but he believed coercion through intimidation tactics would not be far away.

"The people that we are most concerned about are what we call 'clean skins'. They are people without criminal convictions and they're being influenced by others in their societal network that have the access to the organised crime groups. These guys actively seek out vulnerabilities," he said.

Berry said the organisation would be naive to think that higher up officials would be immune to criminal influence but, at this stage, there was little evidence of that depth of corruption occurring within New Zealand.

"We're fairly well prepared for the inevitable in our organisation. We have a a dedicated integrity unit that is designed to look independently any information we receive. We have an escalation protocol and officer protection system. We do a lot of training with our people on how to identify the signs of an approach, because the approach is normally subtle. It will take a period of time for them to to to do that. Are we concerned? Yes. Are we prepared? We're as prepared as we can be.

"Most of our people are good people that are there to make a difference, to protect our communities and they are motivated to stop this stuff, not facilitate it," Berry said.

Berry said he did not believe government cutbacks leading to the loss of 19 roles in in border operations, intelligence investigation and enforcement and another five maritime roles - overseeing port activity - would compromise the agency's efforts.

"A lot of those roles were a realignment of function to make sure that we had the most efficient system we could. Frontline services and delivery of present deterrence operations isn't affected by the cutbacks.

"The focus for us was developing sustainable and effective front-line model in these realignments. So we're looking at how we do the job better and more effectively," Berry said.