{"id":218811,"date":"2026-01-06T01:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/218811\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T01:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:47:08","slug":"nz-woman-accused-of-smuggling-5-5m-of-meth-in-checked-luggage-at-auckland-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/218811\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ woman accused of smuggling $5.5m of meth in checked luggage at Auckland Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Customs said the narcotics found in the woman\u2019s bag could produce up to 922,500 doses, with a potential street value of $5.53 million. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">The woman appeared in Manukau District Court yesterday on one count of drug importation and has been remanded until April for a case review hearing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">If convicted, she could be jailed for life. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Customs Auckland Airport manager Paul Williams had a warning for all travellers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIf you try to smuggle drugs into New Zealand, you might not just land here \u2013 you could land in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Williams said the Christmas and New Year period was one of Customs\u2019 busiest times, with officers working tirelessly at the border to ensure a smooth travel experience for visitors and those returning home. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cOur message to anyone considering carrying prohibited items is clear: regardless of whether you know what\u2019s in your bag, if it contains illegal drugs, you will face arrest. <\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Customs officers allege they found 18kg of methamphetamine stuffed in the woman's  checked luggage when she arrived in NZ from Singapore. Photo \/ Customs\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Customs officers allege they found 18kg of methamphetamine stuffed in the woman&#8217;s  checked luggage when she arrived in NZ from Singapore. Photo \/ Customs<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cCustoms remains committed to reducing the harm caused by illicit drugs in our communities. No financial gain is worth the serious consequences, which can include life imprisonment.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Court documents show the woman landed in New Zealand on flight SQ285 from Singapore. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the woman, who is listed as having no fixed abode, could face life imprisonment if convicted. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Anyone with suspicions about possible smuggling should contact Customs confidentially on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. <\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\">Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years\u2019 experience in the industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vUWuwjCGukMuO\" style=\"display:none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/the-daily-h-your-fast-smart-guide-to-the-days-biggest-headlines\/VQR5CULLQRECZP2ORSWPGDORBU\/?utm_source=nzherald&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_id=nz_cta\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/the-daily-h-your-fast-smart-guide-to-the-days-biggest-headlines\/VQR5CULLQRECZP2ORSWPGDORBU\/?utm_source=nzherald&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_id=nz_cta\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Customs said the narcotics found in the woman\u2019s bag could produce up to 922,500 doses, with a potential&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[92979,1117,2681,7818,1975,51,9525,13239,33017,12781,131998,3401,23966,78,4271,1868,13240,1132,131999,11692,111,43,139,69,1118,10890,95461,19862,102,1354],"class_list":["post-218811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-55m","tag-accused","tag-airport","tag-allegedly","tag-at","tag-auckland","tag-caught","tag-charged","tag-checked","tag-class","tag-doses","tag-drug","tag-enough","tag-in","tag-luggage","tag-meth","tag-methamphetamine","tag-million","tag-narcotic","tag-nearly","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-smuggling","tag-stuffed","tag-supply","tag-with","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218811","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=218811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}