NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Drug trial jury hear of the 'almost perfect crime'

Jared Savage
By Jared Savage
Investigative Journalist·NZ Herald·
18 Apr, 2016 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Yixin Gan in the High Court yesterday. The Crown alleges she used her food-shipping business as a front for importing the precursor drugs. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Yixin Gan in the High Court yesterday. The Crown alleges she used her food-shipping business as a front for importing the precursor drugs. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A mother of three exploited a loophole in New Zealand's border control to commit an "almost perfect" crime of smuggling 250kg of drugs into the country, a court has been told.

The trial of Yixin Gan, 35, on three charges of importing a class-B drug and possession for supply started in the High Court at Auckland yesterday. It follows an 18-month police investigation.

The case is about pseudoephedrine, once the active ingredient in New Zealanders' favourite cold and flu medicines, but now banned as it's the main ingredient needed to cook methamphetamine.

Pseudoephedrine can be extracted from a medicine widely available in China called ContacNT. A packet costs just a "few dollars" but a "set" of 223g of pink granules sells for around $9000 on the black market in New Zealand.

Gan has denied all charges.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Crown prosecutor Scott McColgan told the court Gan had "cottoned on to an almost perfect" method of smuggling the drugs into the country.

She ran a legitimate business shipping food from China to the Pacific Islands, with a short stop in New Zealand.

But because the shipments were shown as goods in transit - and therefore not technically coming through the border - the consignments were not inspected by Customs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Instead, the shipments were sent to the secure Customs-controlled area at Auckland Airport until they were freighted to the final destination.

"But what if you had an inside man in the Customs-controlled area?" was the question Mr McColgan posed to the jury.

The "inside man" for Gan, according to the Crown, was Mosese Uele, who ran a freight-forwarding company called Ezi World Cargo.

In one such shipment, at least 250kg of ContacNT was disguised as potato starch.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Is this how 'almost perfect' crime was committed?

18 Apr 08:57 PM
New Zealand|crime

Judge aborts drug trial after juror's slip

22 Apr 05:00 PM
New Zealand

'Inside man' paid $60,000 to make swap

05 Sep 05:58 AM

Inside the Ezi World Cargo premises, Uele switched the ContacNT with legitimate potato starch to be sent to Tonga. The boxes of drugs were put in a van and driven to a car park in Auckland - all while being followed by police.

"It was almost the perfect scam," said Mr McColgan, "but for Gan's involvement with two people, who unfortunately for her, were under surveillance by police. Otherwise it is very unlikely this scam would have ever come to light."

Following the end of the police operation, codenamed Ghost, in December 2013, financial analysts turned their focus to the bank accounts of Gan, her husband and their business.

"There are vast amounts of cash deposits coinciding with other shipments from China, through Uele, onwards to Tonga," said Mr McColgan, which he alleged were consistent with earlier importations of pseudoephedrine.

In response, defence barrister Graeme Newell made some brief opening remarks on behalf of Gan.

His client was born in China, moved to Tonga and came to New Zealand 16 years ago. She is married with three children and runs a money exchange business, as well as the food shipping company.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She was a regular visitor to a "number of casinos", said Mr Newell, who pointed out that Gan voluntarily returned from China to face the Operation Ghost charges.

He asked the jury to pay particular attention to the inferences the Crown was asking them to make. "Inferences are important. They are logical deductions from proven facts."

Bugged phone conversations, mainly in Mandarin and Cantonese, and covert surveillance will dominate the evidence given to the jurors.

But none of that would exist if not for the double life of an undercover agent.

The officer in charge of Operation Ghost, Detective Sergeant Mike Beal, told the High Court the investigation began when police became aware of "significant quantities" of pseudoephedrine coming into Auckland, then being diverted into drug manufacturing around the country.

The decision was made to immerse an undercover agent, called Joe Arama, in the criminal underworld to build his own credibility and gain the trust of his target, Felix Lim.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They rubbed shoulders in the SkyCity casino and a friendship turned into a business arrangement.

One recorded conversation, in May 2013, played to the court showed he was successful in posing as a drug dealer.

"I'm going to see a guy, how about the pink stuff that Alan's got?" Arama asked Lim. "How much for five?"

Mr Beal said they were talking about five sets of pseudoephedrine, which it seemed was half the amount that Lim would normally sell.

The answer from Lim was $46,500.

Gan played no part in this drug transaction, Mr Beal confirmed to the court.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But by tapping Lim's phone, the police were able to identify his supplier - See Meng Hoo - and in turn his supplier, Van Thanh Tran.

Through Tran, police also listened to the conversations of Da Wen Shao, also known as "Tall Man". It was physical surveillance of these two men that led the police to Gan, who denies any role in organising the importation.

The trial is set down for two weeks.

ContacNT calculation

• A packet of the cold and flu remedy sells for around $2 in China and contains 100 pills.

• 10 packets, or 1000 pills, contains exactly 223g of the pink and yellow granules. This is known as a "set" on the New Zealand blackmarket and sells for around $9000.

• Around 90g of pseudoephedrine is extracted from each set, which in turn is "cooked" into 45-67.5g of methamphetamine.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• An ounce (28g) of methamphetamine sells for around $12,000 at wholesale level.

• P sold at street level in "point bags" (0.1g) for around $100.

• So the 250kg of ContacNT discovered in Operation Ghost could manufacture 50-75kg of methamphetamine depending on the skill of the cook.

• That is up to 750,000 "point bags" - or hits for every New Zealander.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Local contract for $70.5m Napier council and library precinct

09 May 06:00 PM
New ZealandUpdated

Her husband died years ago. Then she found a 'miracle' in her house's charred ruin

09 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Letters to the Editor

Letters: Brooke van Velden should remember she rode women’s wave to win Tamaki electorate

09 May 06:00 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Local contract for $70.5m Napier council and library precinct

Local contract for $70.5m Napier council and library precinct

09 May 06:00 PM

'We’re using this pivotal project to drive local job creation and economic momentum.'

Her husband died years ago. Then she found a 'miracle' in her house's charred ruin

Her husband died years ago. Then she found a 'miracle' in her house's charred ruin

09 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Letters: Brooke van Velden should remember she rode women’s wave to win Tamaki electorate

Letters: Brooke van Velden should remember she rode women’s wave to win Tamaki electorate

09 May 06:00 PM
Gisborne mayor invites Act leader to witness community support efforts

Gisborne mayor invites Act leader to witness community support efforts

09 May 06:00 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP