New Zealand Customs had a busy year in 2019 when it came to intercepting illegal drugs at the border, but it might not be Kiwis doing all the dodgy dealing.
New figures show Customs netted several thousand kilograms of methamphetamine and other banned substances in over 20,000 separate interceptions.
Customs Minister Jenny Salesa told TVNZ1's Breakfast today the increase in drug importation is partially due to Australian deportees with gang affiliations.
"We know from information from Customs and they work closely with police that one of the reasons why we're seeing an increase in the level of drugs coming through is because of the deportees from Australia that we are seeing in terms of those with gang affiliations," Ms Salesa said.
"They bring through their sophistication and their international networks to syndicates overseas."
Though there is a spike in attempted imports, Customs is also stopping a large number of drugs getting through. Ms Salesa says in 2019 Customs stopped three tonnes worth of illegal drugs at the New Zealand border.
Ms Salesa believes one of the reasons Customs has been able to stop so much drugs getting through was the Government's $58 million investment into Customs in 2018.
"We hired more staff in Customs, we focus on intelligence and we work with other Customs officers in Australia, Canada, the US and other countries.
"Not only are we stopping drugs from entering our borders here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are also making sure we stop the drugs from even leaving other overseas countries."
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