{"id":62161,"date":"2025-10-06T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/62161\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:08:14","slug":"customs-seizes-cocaine-from-panama-container-at-port-of-tauranga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/62161\/","title":{"rendered":"Customs seizes cocaine from Panama container at Port of Tauranga"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is the latest in a series of cocaine busts in containers at New Zealand\u2019s biggest port. <\/p>\n

Customs seized 150kg of cocaine<\/a>, estimated to be worth $58.2m, from a container originating in Jamaica at the port in July.<\/p>\n

Another 130kg, worth up to $50.44m, was seized at the port in May, and 157kg of cocaine worth $60.9m<\/a> four weeks before that. <\/p>\n

Customs group manager maritime Paul Campbell said this year alone, Customs had intercepted more than 430km of cocaine in Tauranga. <\/p>\n

This was \u201cnearly double the amount seized at the port in 2024\u2033.<\/p>\n

Campbell said Customs had an intelligence-led, multi-layered strategy to safeguarding New Zealand\u2019s borders. <\/p>\n

\u201cTransnational, serious, and organised crime groups continue to exploit legitimate trade routes, causing delays and disruptions across the supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Customs was aware of the impact this had on businesses, and Campbell said its role was twofold: \u201cTo facilitate legitimate trade while actively dismantling criminal networks\u201d. <\/p>\n

Each interception strengthened its intelligence capabilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a strong grasp of how these groups operate and where they plan to strike, reflected in our growing seizure statistics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime\u2019s annual World Drug Report in June said cocaine-related deaths were rising in many countries, the New York Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report said cocaine use has been linked to heart disease, aggressive driving behaviour and long-term developmental issues in babies when used during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

An estimated 25 million people used cocaine worldwide in 2023 \u2013 up from 17 million a decade earlier. Production in 2023 jumped by 34% from 2022, the report said.<\/p>\n

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":"It is the latest in a series of cocaine busts in containers at New Zealand\u2019s biggest port. Customs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50907,1975,1558,31342,20926,50905,34298,17899,50906,40147,71,1132,111,43,139,69,1118,50904,29268,12641,29936,18533,1227,19985],"class_list":["post-62161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-50907","tag-at","tag-been","tag-bricks","tag-cocaine","tag-container","tag-containing","tag-customs","tag-duffle","tag-estimated","tag-from","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-panama","tag-port","tag-seized","tag-seizes","tag-shipping","tag-tauranga","tag-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62161","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=62161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}