But she said “unfortunately there’s just so much more around. We’ve seen in our wastewater results, there is just a huge amount of drugs”.
Costello said the increase has been notable over the last 10 to 15 years, as drugs are becoming cheaper to produce and being produced in greater volumes.
“This idea that New Zealand used to be far away and that we are somewhat isolated – that’s not the case anymore,” she said.
“Supply chains and technology means that we’re being hit hard.”
Officials estimate illicit drug harm carries an estimated social cost of $36.7 million each week – or $1.9 billion each year.
A ministerial advisory group on transnational and organised crime estimated that $1.6b in profit is generated through drug crime and fraud annually.
The paper states agencies were increasing efforts to reduce the flow of illicit drugs and other illegal products into communities and noted the Government has supported an improved response through an increase to the Customs budget last year.
Costello noted a particular increase in methamphetamine, saying New Zealand has one of the highest retail prices for meth in the Western world and was a “very lucrative market” to big business cartels and organised crime networks.
“There isn’t one part of the border we need to strengthen. It’s coming through small packages and parcels. It’s coming through container freight. It’s coming through couriers that traffic it through the airports. It’s coming through unaccompanied baggage – every way in which they can circulate it.”
Costello said the Government was working on a collective, collaborative approach, where agencies can work together on the response to organised crime.
She admitted it was a “difficult environment” when it came to securing more funding in the upcoming Budget, but said other practical steps are taking place, including working on information sharing to dismantle cartels.
“Al Capone got taken down by tax evasion. It is literally that kind of approach,” Costello said.
“Every lever we can pull, we should be able to pull.”
She applauded the work of agencies intercepting and disrupting the transnational drug trade, stating she gives credit to those frontline workers that are “doing so much.”
Costello said the country was fighting “such a big enemy”.
“I do really applaud the agencies. We’re not winning, but I wouldn’t say we’re losing.”
The Cabinet paper highlighted the importance of this work on economic growth, as disrupting transnational and organised crime groups can maintain New Zealand as a “trusted trading partner” and a safe destination for tourists.
In a statement, acting Customs investigations manager Nigel Barnes said: “Customs continually evolves its tradecraft to stay ahead of criminal groups who employ all manner of tactics, including using air couriers, novel shipping methods and concealments and infiltrating legitimate supply chains.”
“We’ve had to broaden our focus at the border – from simply detecting drugs to identifying facilitators, money mules and other enablers,” he said.
Barnes said Customs was collaborating with industry partners to prevent criminal groups targeting and exploiting people, or vulnerabilities, in supply chains.
The importance of “robust accountability” is detailed throughout the document, which suggested New Zealand was “well-placed to be world-leading” in its response to transnational crime, due to a single enforcement agency and its legal system.
But officials noted that “our current response is fragmented” and reiterated the importance of co-ordination across agencies.
It comes after the Government agreed on a set of actions to address meth-specific harm, which specifically calls for Customs, the Defence Force and the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) to undertake maritime operations to disrupt organised crime across the Pacific.
Prior initiatives responding to organised crime showed a return on investment of $3.40 for every dollar.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.
