469kg meth import men sentenced to 16, 20 years

AUCKLAND: One travelled from a faraway continent hoping to pay off debts belonging to his girlfriend’s dad.

Another was promised $50,000 to help deliver what turned out to be a 469kg, estimated quarterbilliondollar meth haul.

Now, TheHoang Thai and Isaiah John Te Hira will spend years behind bars for their roles in the 2019 international drug conspiracy.

The High Court in Auckland yesterday heard the methamphetamine was stashed inside 60 electric motors sent from Thailand in a shipping container.

Thai, a Canadian national, pleaded guilty to two charges of meth possession for supply.

Auckland man Te Hira admitted one charge of importing meth and one of possessing the Class A drug for supply.

Prosecutor Henry Steele challenged suggestions the two men weren’t aware of the scale of the meth importation.

‘‘They clearly know whatever’s coming is large.’’

Steele said Thai’s second charge related to a separate 26kg pile of meth.

Thai and Te Hira were caught after a Customs investigation into suspected drug importation through a company called NZ Importing Group Ltd.

Justice Kit Toogood said a local logistics company unwittingly became involved.

Customs found the drugs in August 2019 while searching a shipping container from Bangkok.

Customs arranged for a controlled delivery to Mangatawhiri in the north Waikato. Some meth was replaced with a placebo.

Police later joined Customs on massive raids across Auckland and its outskirts.

Justice Toogood said Thai came to New Zealand solely to be in the drug trade, and to pay off gambling debts his girlfriend’s father had amassed.

Thai had no friends in New Zealand, only criminal associates, and the girlfriend and her father now seemed to have abandoned him, the judge said.

The court was told Te Hira had expected $50,000 for helping offload the drugs.

Te Hira made a ‘‘terrible mistake’’ chasing what he thought would be easy money, Justice Toogood said.

Thai was sentenced to 20 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. Te Hira was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. — The New Zealand Herald