{"id":122657,"date":"2025-11-07T09:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T09:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/122657\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T09:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T09:07:13","slug":"12m-cocaine-haul-hidden-in-designer-brand-lacoste-packaging-seized-at-dunedin-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/122657\/","title":{"rendered":"$12m cocaine haul hidden in designer brand \u2018Lacoste\u2019 packaging seized at Dunedin port"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">Customs manager of maritime Robert Smith said the seizure was a \u201cstrong reminder\u201d that Customs applies pressure across the entire maritime border, not just at New Zealand\u2019s largest seaports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWhile Auckland and Tauranga are often perceived as primary entry points for illicit goods, we know that transnational, serious and organised crime will attempt to exploit every port,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The stash was found hidden in a refrigeration unit. Photo \/ New Zealand Customs\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The stash was found hidden in a refrigeration unit. Photo \/ New Zealand Customs<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cCustoms conducts risk assessments for all goods and vessels at a national level. This is the first major cocaine intercept of its kind for our Dunedin team, and I\u2019m immensely proud of their work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThis sends a clear message to criminals that Customs is vigilant, backed by intelligence with strong domestic and international partnerships to make our border harder to breach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">He said Customs would continue to strengthen its presence at the border by working closely with port companies, stakeholders and communities.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The estimated 35kg of cocaine has a street value of up to $12.25 million Photo \/ New Zealand Customs\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The estimated 35kg of cocaine has a street value of up to $12.25 million Photo \/ New Zealand Customs<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThrough these collective efforts, we aim to protect New Zealand from harm while ensuring that only legitimate trade flows through our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"UYVxLGUpqoLIsFLR\" style=\"display:none\">Suspicions about drug smuggling can be reported confidentially to 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Customs manager of maritime Robert Smith said the seizure was a \u201cstrong reminder\u201d that Customs applies pressure across&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85917,85919,1975,4463,85921,20926,50905,17899,28145,6788,12940,40147,71,29955,305,42,538,78,85918,85920,43,29737,29268,12641,18533,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-122657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-12m","tag-35kg","tag-at","tag-brand","tag-chalmers","tag-cocaine","tag-container","tag-customs","tag-designer","tag-dunedin","tag-dunedins","tag-estimated","tag-from","tag-haul","tag-have","tag-headlines","tag-hidden","tag-in","tag-lacoste","tag-lacostebranded","tag-news","tag-packaging","tag-port","tag-seized","tag-shipping","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}