$15.7 million worth of cocaine found in container of bananas at Port of Tauranga by Customs NZ

Cocaine has been found in a shipment of bananas at the Port of Tauranga. Photo / 123RF

About 35 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of $15.7 million were intercepted amid an attempt to smuggle the narcotics through the Port of Tauranga.

Customs officers uncovered the cocaine hidden in the engine compartment of a refrigerated shipping container loaded with bananas which arrived from Panama on Thursday night.

Customs maritime group manager Paul Campbell said the result came from well-targeted and regular verification checks on shipments at the border, which were supported by good intelligence from Customs’ overseas representatives in co-operation with international partner agencies.

”Customs is extremely proud of the work both front-line officers and our support teams do every day to intercept the smuggling efforts of transnational organised crime groups who aim to exploit our communities and profit from the harm they inflict through their trafficking.”

It is estimated this latest seizure could have produced about 350,000 individual doses worth a total estimated street value of up to $15.7m.

Based on the National Drug Harm Index, the seizure has prevented about $10.5m worth of harm in New Zealand communities.

This seizure comes two weeks after 140 kgs of cocaine was seized from a shipping container at the Port of Auckland.

That joint Customs and police investigation uncovered a sophisticated organised crime smuggling operation and led to four arrests.

”There is an economic cost with this criminal behaviour that includes disruption to legitimate activity on New Zealand’s ports.”

While Customs risk assesses all incoming shipments and vessels, the time involved for physical searches was significant.

Like with Customs’ operation in Auckland recently, clearance of other legitimate shipments inevitably slows down while Customs undertakes inspections of suspect containers.

”This is time-consuming work, but Customs, and port operators understand it has to happen to stop the criminal activity that threatens New Zealand’s supply chain.”

Port of Tauranga, the country's biggest cargo gateway.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson said the port was keen to support Customs’ operations in any way possible, even at the risk of causing delays to legitimate cargo.

”Port of Tauranga and our customers understand the value of the work done by Customs and New Zealand Police to protect our communities from harm. Our security and operations teams are highly focused on safety and preventing any illegal activity at our port.”