Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Unknown destination of hards drugs seized in PNG

Posted at 05:32 on 13 November, 2012 UTC

Eight million US dollars worth of methamphetamine seized on its way to Papua New Guinea could have been destined for other countries in the region.

Three men appeared in court in Port Moresby yesterday, charged with conspiracy to import 50kg of methylamphetamine into the country.

British police intercepted the shipment of drugs on its way from the Netherlands to PNG, which were concealed inside two welding machines, and replaced them with soap powder.

A police spokesman, Inspector David Terry, says PNG officers worked with police in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“Literally we provided a shield for the Pacific by intercepting this huge consignment of illicit drugs. We suspected that they were trying to use PNG as a distributing point to supply countries in the region, so at the moment investigations are continuing to establish how and where these drugs were going to be distributed.”

David Terry says the men were granted bail of just under 500 US dollars and will appear in court at a later date.