Operation Mexted: Police bust alleged drug-smuggling ring across Auckland, Waikato

Guns seized through Operation Mexted, a police investigation into a transnational organised criminal cell. Photo / New Zealand Police

Police have busted an alleged international drug-smuggling ring, arresting 11 people and seizing nearly $1 million in cash and a haul of guns stashed in an Auckland Airbnb.

Operation Mexted was a joint investigation between the National Organised Crime Group and Customs. It has been running for five months to target a transnational organised criminal cell.

Three US nationals are among those arrested. Police have not said where the eight others are from.

Police raided countless properties around Auckland and Waikato throughout the operation. Search warrants were executed in Māngere Bridge, Pakuranga, Ōtara, Blockhouse Bay, Papatoetoe and Mt Wellington.

The operation resulted in the seizure of five firearms, $915,335 in cash, 791 grams of methamphetamine, 18g of cocaine and 54g of cannabis.

Police accuse the alleged crime ring of trying to import 18kg of meth, 408g of cannabis resin and 1.6kg of cannabis plants.

Acting Detective Inspector Jason Hunt, of the National Organised Crime Group, said the first phase of the operation began in June.

Police found four Glocks and a submachine gun when they executed a search warrant at an Airbnb in Māngere Bridge.

The guns were stashed in a suitcase in an upstairs bedroom, Hunt said.

The operation resulted in police seizing $915,335 in cash. Photo / New Zealand Police

The guns were stashed inside a suitcase in an upstairs bedroom of an Airbnb. Photo / New Zealand Police

The three Americans were arrested at an address in Onehunga later that day. They were charged with importing methamphetamine and participating in an organised crime group.

Then, in August, search warrants were executed at four properties in Pakuranga, Ōtara, Blockhouse Bay and Papatoetoe. After raiding the properties, police laid drug importing and possession charges against four people.

They then found more than $800,000 in cash in an apartment in Takapuna at the beginning of September. A man was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

The same day, police found 41g of meth and $77,000 in cash at an address in Mt Wellington.

And yesterday, police and Customs investigators raided 10 properties in Auckland and Waikato.

Seven more people were arrested.

Hunt said: “We are continuing to focus our efforts on these syndicates establishing themselves for financial greed while preying on vulnerable communities.

“Police will continue to act, alongside Customs and our other law enforcement partners, to shut down this organised criminal offending taking place across different parts of the country.”

Customs found suspects allegedly smuggling cannabis plants and resin into the country and tracked their activities.

“This joint investigation with our police partners has disrupted this criminal group and kept 900,000 doses of methamphetamine off our streets,” acting Customs investigations manager Simon Peterson said.

Ten men, aged from 23 to 39, and one woman, 33, face combined charges for alleged drug and border offences.

Charges against them include unlawful possession of firearms, importation of methamphetamine, possession for supply of methamphetamine, importation of cannabis resin (a class B controlled drug) and importation of cannabis plant (a class C controlled drug).

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

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