A Wellington man has been charged with supplying “large quantities” of a variety of drugs, following a joint police and New Zealand Customs operation.
Detective Senior Sergeant Hamish Blackburn of the Wellington District Organised Crime Unit said the charges were filed after five search warrants were carried out at properties across Wellington over the last week.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Maserati, sought to determine the importation and supply of methamphetamine, cocaine, GBL, and ketamine across the Wellington region.
The 33-year-old man is remanded in custody and is due to reappear in Wellington District Court on July 5.
He is facing charges of:
- Supply of Fantasy substances (x2)
- Supply Methamphetamine (x2)
- Conspiracy to Deal Class A Drug (x2)
- Conspiracy to Deal Methamphetamine (x2)
- Possession of Methamphetamine for Supply (x2)
- Importing Methamphetamine (x2)
- Importing Fantasy substances (x2)
- Importing Stimulants/Depressants (x2)
- Failure to carry out obligations for computer search
- Possession of Cocaine for Supply
Police said it has not ruled out further charges.
Chief Customs Officer: Regional Investigations, Rachel Manning said in a statement: “Customs is pleased that the range of intelligence we were able to gather and analyse has alerted our Police partners to this criminal activity, and helped them break up what was a significant drug-smuggling operation.”
Blackburn said inquiries continue “with our offshore partner agencies to identify the source that exported the drugs to New Zealand.”
“Police and Customs are committed to identifying and disrupting the importation of these types of drugs which target our communities.
“We are committed to holding offenders to account, and delivering on our intent to keep New Zealanders safe,” he said.