NZ Meth lab busts on the rise as pandemic hits drug imports

Auckland: The closure of New Zealand’s borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic has forced criminals to rethink supply lines for hard drugs, says a sociologist and organised crime expert. In the six months to the end of June, Customs seized about 109 kilograms of methamphetamine, down from 590 kilos for the same period last year.

The seizure of meth pre-cursors, including ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, also dropped significantly.

Police busted 38 meth labs between January and June, 15 more than last year.

Sociologist Jarrod Gilbert said it appeared criminals had adapted to not being about to use people to carry drugs into the country. “When demand doesn’t change, but the supply side is reduced, then you’ll find different ways to supply the market, and this is the illicit drugs market, so the rise of clandestine meth labs I think was predictable and now we are seeing it in the data.”