Auckland Airport meth bust: Former baggage handlers jailed after attempt to smuggle 4.6kg of meth in backpack

• Two former Auckland Airport baggage handlers have been jailed for attempting to possess methamphetamine found in a backpack.
• Customs found 4.6kg of meth worth $874,000 in November 2022, preventing $5.1 million in social harm.
• Sentences were three years and three months and two years and nine months imprisonment in Manukau District Court.

Two former airport baggage handlers have been jailed after almost 5kg of methamphetamine was found hidden in a backpack at Auckland Airport.

New Zealand Customs found about 4.6kg of methamphetamine stashed in the backpack after it arrived on Air New Zealand flight NZ5 from Los Angeles in November 2022.

The two men, aged 23 and 19 at the time, were both employed as baggage handlers and were noticed acting suspiciously around a collection of unclaimed luggage.

Following an X-ray and search, the meth, estimated to have a street value of up to $874,000 at the time, was located hidden inside the backpack.

The seizure was estimated to have prevented up to $5.1 million social harm and economic cost to New Zealand.

NZ Customs officers recovered 4.6kg of meth in a backpack after an Air NZ flight from Los Angeles to Auckland in November 2022. Photo / Customs

Both men, now 24 and 20, were jointly convicted for attempting to possess methamphetamine for supply.

They were sentenced to three years and three months and two years and nine months imprisonment respectively in the Manukau District Court today.

Customs investigations manager Dominic Adams said this case was a clear warning about the risks people face when they are willing to abuse the trust and access they are given to work at the border.

“There are many eyes watching,” Adams said.

The drugs seized were estimated to have a street value of up to $874,000 at the time. Photo / Customs

A crystal of methamphetamine located in the 4.6kg seizure at Auckland Airport. Photo / Customs

“Customs and our border and industry partners are always on the lookout for the signs of suspicious behaviour from travellers and those trusted to work in secure areas.

“We also receive useful information from the public who notice unusual and suspicious behaviour and report it to us. Everyone can help play a part to protect our communities from the devastating harm caused by methamphetamine.”

The sentences come after an Auckland Airport baggage handler admitted his participation in an organised crime syndicate that was suspected by police of attempting to smuggle nearly 500kg of methamphetamine into New Zealand via overseas commercial flights.

Māngere Bridge resident Kimela Kolo Piukana, 24, entered the guilty plea in June in the High Court at Auckland, two and a half years after he was arrested at the conclusion of a lengthy undercover police and Customs investigation dubbed Operation Selena.

Piukana was alleged to be part of a group of airport workers who on several occasions in 2021 were tasked with secretly removing illicit drug shipments stowed aboard Malaysian Airlines flights from Kuala Lumpur and Air New Zealand flights from Los Angeles.

Another Air New Zealand baggage handler who pleaded guilty to helping unload a secret stash of methamphetamine from an arriving Malaysian Airlines flight was caught on camera in the act.

The 16-minute clip of Auckland Airport CCTV footage was played for jurors in the Auckland High Court in June as they continued to hear evidence in the trial of Nigel Iuvale and Tungane Manuel, the last of nearly a dozen co-defendants in the Operation Selena, to maintain their innocence.

If you know or suspect someone may be involved in drug smuggling, call Customs on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) confidentially, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.