{"id":143410,"date":"2025-11-19T18:30:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T18:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/143410\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T18:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T18:30:15","slug":"man-charged-over-seized-3m-methamphetamine-haul-concealed-in-roller-skate-kneepads-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/143410\/","title":{"rendered":"Man charged over seized $3m methamphetamine haul concealed in roller skate kneepads, art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">The chief Customs officer for regional investigations, Rachael Manning, said the operation\u2019s \u201cscattergun\u201d approach is increasingly being adopted by organised crime groups taking advantage of high shipping volumes.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Police intercepted the packages in July 2025. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Police intercepted the packages in July 2025. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThere is a high volume of legitimate parcels crossing our borders daily, but our frontline officers remain vigilant\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cCustoms is well aware of the different methods criminals use and places equal emphasis on all types of incoming packages, big and small, to seize illicit drugs at our border.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The small-scale meth operation concealed the drugs in packages containing roller skate kneepads. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The small-scale meth operation concealed the drugs in packages containing roller skate kneepads. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">With the support of Masterton police, Customs yesterday executed two search warrants after a probe connected the man to the smuggling operation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">A further $7000 in cash, 100g of meth, meth drug paraphernalia and 12 cannabis plants were seized at the site.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"The 43-year-old man who has been charged could face life in prison. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>The 43-year-old man who has been charged could face life in prison. Photo \/ Customs Service NZ<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">Wairarapa\u2019s area manager investigations Detective Senior Sergeant Phil Skoglund said the arrest would reduce drug harm to the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cPolice, alongside our Customs colleagues, will continue to target organised criminal offending and drug distribution, which causes huge social harm to our people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">The man was due to appear today in the Masterton District Court for a charge related to the importation of a class A controlled drug, with the possibility of additional charges being laid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wzdDHKkU\" style=\"display:none\">The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The chief Customs officer for regional investigations, Rachael Manning, said the operation\u2019s \u201cscattergun\u201d approach is increasingly being adopted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[96838,74,11924,1228,1558,13239,96839,17899,1874,29955,78,96841,5158,89421,13240,1132,111,43,139,69,23421,1523,92024,96842,12641,96840,19985],"class_list":["post-143410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-3m","tag-after","tag-arrested","tag-art","tag-been","tag-charged","tag-concealed","tag-customs","tag-found","tag-haul","tag-in","tag-kneepads","tag-man","tag-masterton","tag-methamphetamine","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-officers","tag-over","tag-roller","tag-rollerskate","tag-seized","tag-skate","tag-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143410","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=143410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}