Boyuan Zhang and his mother, Xin Li in court on Friday.
Photo: NICK MONRO / RNZ
A mother and son caught trying to take 18 kilograms of pounamu to China have been fined a combined $5000.
The pair were found guilty of attempting to illegally export pounamu to China.
In the first successful prosecution of its kind by New Zealand Customs, Boyuan Zhang and his mother Xin Li were found carrying almost 18 kilograms of the stone in their luggage at Auckland Airport in 2024.
Xin Li listens to her sentence in the Manukau District Court.
Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Zhang was fined $3000 and Li fined $2000 when they appeared for sentencing at the Manukau District Court on Friday morning.
It is illegal to take more than five kilograms of the raw stone out of the country without consent.
Crown prosecutor Anna Devathasan makes submissions during the hearing.
Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Descendants of South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu said the verdict at the trial in March served as a warning that anyone who attempted to export pounamu without permission could and would be prosecuted.
Boyuan Zhang during the court proceedings in Auckland.
Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Ngāi Tahu holds legal ownership of all naturally occurring pounamu within its tribal boundaries and has stepped up efforts to disrupt the black market trade, alongside police.
Westland Hapū Te Runanga O Makaaawhio chair Paul Madgwick told Morning Report “blocks the size of half a desk” were being taken out of the ground and rivers.
“They’ll fly in to these remote areas where no one lives. Like areas south of Haast, where there’s only a population of 2. So the helicopters can fly in and out at will.”
He said just this year, two separate police operations had recovered 1.8 tonne and 850kg of stolen pounamu.
Madgwick said there was no question that people taking the pounamu knew it was illegal, as there had been no licences for pounamu extraction since 1997.
It was a challenge dealing with this kind of theft in remote areas, Madgwick said, but the iwi had support of police.
“We’re not expecting to solve this quickly. But we’re hoping by catching at least some of the thieves we can get some strong messaging out there that will deter people from helping themselves to what is a privately owned resource.”
As it stands, people are legally allowed to take 5kg of unworked pounamu out of the country, which Madgwick disagreed with.
“There’s really no reason to be taking raw pounamu out of the country unless it’s Ngāi Tahu.”
There were varying degrees of culpability in the illegal trade, Madgwick said, from the “greedy ones” who took the pounamu, to the “shady dealers” selling from the back of a ute and carvers who took the stolen stones without asking questions.
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