Trio arrested in 67.7kg precursor drug bust

The 67kg haul of ContacNT capsules helps keep a lot of P out of circulation. Photo / Supplied

Enough drugs to flood the streets with $20 million of P have been seized in a police operation targeting organised crime in Auckland.

Drug detectives seized 67.7kg of pseudoephedrine in the raids this week and arrested three people after a month-long inquiry.

The huge haul of the Class C drug, the main ingredient in methamphetamine manufacture, is the largest this year and the biggest since 110kg was found in April last year.

"We believe the quantity seized this week was sufficient to manufacture between 13 and 20 kilograms of methamphetamine with a street value of between $13 and $20 million," said Detective Senior Sergeant Bruce Howard.

Detectives from the Auckland metro drug squad and Customs worked together on the operation which raided several addresses in Auckland, leading to the arrests of three Chinese nationals.

One is a resident, and two are in New Zealand on student visas.

Desheng Bi, 33, and Yini Liu, 31, lived together on the North Shore and Qin Guo, 23, in Papatoetoe.

All three have been jointly charged with participation in an organised criminal group, importing a Class C controlled drug and possession of a Class C controlled drug for supply.

Mr Howard said more inquiries were being made in New Zealand and China.

He said law enforcement agencies were committed to keep tackling methamphetamine, particularly the supply networks.

The Government has said that battling organised crime is one of its top priorities.

A Government report released last week shows the street-level price of P rose from $610 a gram in 2006 to $780 a gram last year.

But the price of a "point" - or 0.1 gram - is still around $100.

Price, purity and availability of the drug are the best indicators of whether law-enforcement efforts against methamphetamine are working.

Despite increased drug seizures and some successful police investigations targeting drug syndicates, price, purity and availability are holding steady.

Police are also targeting the extreme levels of wealth generated by large scale drug suppliers.

Since new legislation was introduced to seize criminal wealth, police have identified $83 million of assets obtained through illegal means.

An estimated $63 million is attributed to drug offending, $41 million of that specifically methamphetamine.

The Numbers

67.7kg of pseudoephedrine seized
$20 million of P could have been manufactured
3 men arrested