![\"Cocaine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cocaine-found-in-the-lining-of-a-refrigerated-container-has-7FJN4O4ISNFXHCW5N6VR6SMQ4E.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNearly 50kg of cocaine \u2013 valued at around $16.8 million \u2013 stashed in the lining of a refrigerated container has been seized at the Port of Tauranga.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Customs officers were recently searching a refrigerated container containing legitimate goods from Balboa in Panama when the discovery was made.<\/p>\n
Customs said 48kg of the Class A drug was hidden within the insulated lining of the container’s roof.<\/p>\n
“Unlike the ‘rip-on, rip-off’ method where drugs are concealed inside the container, these drugs were hidden between the inner ceiling and the top of the container in the insulated roof lining,” Customs said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cocaine found in the lining of a refrigerated container has been seized at the Port of Tauranga. (Source: Customs NZ) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
Customs group manager maritime Paul Campbell said transnational and serious organised criminal groups were using increasingly complex methods to conceal drugs to be smuggled across the border.<\/p>\n
“This method of concealment signals the lengths crime groups are going to in attempting to move drugs through the supply chain,” Campbell said.<\/p>\n
“It reflects a deliberate effort to exploit commercial pathways and reinforces that while we are making it harder for them, we must constantly evolve how we detect and disrupt these threats. <\/p>\n
“Customs will continue to apply sustained pressure at the maritime border and is committed to making New Zealand\u2019s seaports a hostile environment for criminal networks.”<\/p>\n
Industry workers and members of the public were urged to “remain vigilant and help play a part in stopping organised crime”. <\/p>\n
Suspicions about potential drug smuggling could be reported confidentially to 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly 50kg of cocaine \u2013 valued at around $16.8 million \u2013 stashed in the lining of a refrigerated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,111,43,139,69,1756],"class_list":{"0":"post-377035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-crime-and-justice","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-tauranga-bay-of-plenty"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377035","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=377035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}