Wenfu Zhang, Tayzel Tupou-Toka Tini and Liam Quade Prasad have been jailed for helping to smuggle 713kg of methamphetamine (worth about $250 million) into New Zealand inside bottles of maple syrup. Photo / Jason Dorday
Three men involved in the biggest methamphetamine seizure at the border New Zealand law enforcers had ever seen, involving roughly enough to supply every addict in Aotearoa for a year, have been jailed for their role in the botched operation.
If the 713kg of drugs hidden inside maple syrup containers had hit the streets, it could have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Today in the High Court at Auckland, lengthy jail terms were handed down to three of the men involved in the New Zealand side of the importation, Wenfu Zhang, Tayzel Tini and Liam Prasad.
Zhang was ordered to serve 10 years and 10 months for one charge of importing methamphetamine, and the other two defendants each received seven years and two months for one possession for supply charge.
Two of the higher-up players in the scheme, Andy Oloafofa Tumaaga and Patrick Chand, have already been sentenced in relation to the offending after earlier entering guilty pleas.
Chand was sentenced to 16 years and Tumaaga received 17 and a half years.
Before today’s hearing, a group of the men’s supporters gathered outside the courtroom to pray.
The public gallery was full during the sentencing.
Justice Simon Mount, KC, said that in January 2023, Customs discovered 713.8kg of methamphetamine hidden in maple syrup bottles on 18 large pallets from Canada.
The hundreds of bottles were each labelled as containing 4 litres of maple syrup. Many of them did, in fact, contain syrup. But eight of the pallets contained dummy containers, court documents state.
The shipment was split in two, Justice Mount said, with some being delivered to a facility rented by Zhang, 31, on Auckland’s Dominion Rd and the rest to Helensville.
Authorities have previously said they were tipped off about the illicit syrup shipment ahead of time thanks to intelligence from Canadian authorities. They also received help from Australian authorities, believing the shipment was intended for distribution across the wider Australasian underground market.
The 713kg could have been divided into about 35 million doses worth an estimated $250 million, authorities estimated.
Tini, 24, and Prasad, 24, had been recruited by another defendant, Chand, to assist with the packing process at the Helensville site.
They were arrested soon after arriving at the facility on February 8.
Justice Mount said there was no evidence the men had been advised they would be paid a particular figure for the job, but Prasad relayed that he was told it would be “worth your while”.
The judge viewed their role as essentially “hired labour” to unpack their boxes, and their expectation of financial reward was modest.
Justice Mount said there was no evidence Zhang had any involvement in the operation before December 2022, and he was to be paid $2000.
This amount, he told the court, was said to be “grossly disproportionate” to the risk Zhang was exposed to.
Crown prosecutor Kasey Nihill submitted that Zhang’s role in the offending fitted somewhere between lesser and significant, and was “slightly more” than just the few days before the importation.
While his lawyer suggested Zhang’s actions were reckless, Nihill said it left open the possibility that he had been “wilfully blind” regarding the meth importation.
“He had prior dealing with this person ... Who offered him money to receive packages.”
There were also images on Zhang’s phone that were close to the appearance of meth and had stacks of cash, Nihill submitted.
He was “clearly” concerned about the shipment, given the frequent calls he made leading up to the delivery.
Zhang’s lawyer, Graeme Newell, said his client did not cause the drugs to come into New Zealand, and the pallets were already en route before he rented the facility.
“We’ve got a person who was [involved] after the fact. He was involved in the safe harbour after the drugs got to New Zealand.”
Zhang’s role was not the same as an actual importer by a “long stretch”, Newell said.
Nihill said the other defendants, Tini and Prasad, were “catchers”.
She submitted that the men knew about the operation when they arrived at the facility to unload the product, which she said differed from the defence’s argument that the men became aware when unpacking the drugs.
Nihill said the men had travelled a significant distance with Chand and sat for two hours in the car before entering the facility, so had plenty of time to discuss what their role was.
Audio from inside the site captured no discussions or efforts to question what was happening, she said.
“There was a time where that knowledge was crystallised [that they were dealing with drugs] and there was no attempt to withdraw.”
However, Justice Mount said he didn’t believe the men “really understood” that what they were doing was unpacking 600kg of meth.
The Crown was not opposed to granting Prasad several sentence reductions for factors including his youth, previous good character; and to Tini, for his remorse, good character and time spent on bail.
The submission from Tini’s lawyer, Shane Tait, focused on three factors: Tini’s naivety, his youth, and the lack of premeditation.
Tait also pointed to the “immense” support Tini had in the community, his lack of prior convictions and the certificates he undertook while in custody.
Tini’s godmother also spoke in his support, appearing in the court on behalf of his community and the 50 letters of support she told the judge had been provided for him.
“His heart is one of empathy and shows unwavering care for those in need of help.”
She spoke of how Tini helped support family members, even taking in his two younger brothers.
Prasad’s lawyer, Oscar Hintze, said the judge should not focus on the quantity of the meth, but on his client’s role.
“The penalty doesn’t fit the crime, sir.”
Hintze said there was no evidence that Prasad knew there was half a tonne of meth involved, and if it had been 1kg, the situation would have been completely different.
It was, Hintze submitted, “unfortunate” that it was 550 to 600kg.
Justice Mount granted Tini and Prasad a starting point of 10 years’ imprisonment, and after giving discounts for personal factors and time spent on bail, landed on a sentence of seven years and two months each.
He gave Zhang a starting point of 15 years, and after discounts to reflect his previous good character, time on bail and personal factors, ended on a prison sentence of 10 years and 10 months.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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