WELLINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- An Auckland businessman appeared in court Tuesday on charges connected with a threat to poison infant formula, which forced the government to reassure consumers at home and abroad earlier this year.
The 60-year-old man was remanded in custody after he was charged with two counts of criminal blackmail over the threat to contaminate infant milk formula with 1080, Radio New Zealand reported.
The man, who was granted interim name suppression, was told he would next appear at Auckland's Manukau District Court on Oct. 28.
New Zealand's top police officer announced earlier Tuesday that they had arrested the man following police searches of five premises in Auckland and the Rangitikei district of the lower North Island the same day.
The two counts of blackmail related to threat letters sent to dairy giant Fonterra and the Federated Farmers industry group in November last year, and which were made public in March this year.
The charges carry a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.
Commissioner Mike Bush said the investigation, dubbed Operation Concord, was one of the biggest undertaken by police in recent times, involving a 35-strong investigation team, plus specialist support staff.
Police interviewed more than 60 significant persons of interest and more than 2,600 people were considered by the investigation team over the course of the inquiry, Bush said in a statement.
The investigation had received assistance from a large number of organizations.
"Particular credit should go to the people of New Zealand and elsewhere who reacted to the threat in a measured and considered way," said Bush.
Police Minister Michael Woodhouse welcomed the arrest as a milestone in a long and complex investigation over the past 11 months.
The threat forced government ministers to assure buyers of New Zealand infant formula at home and abroad that the product was safe.
The letters sent to Federated Farmers and Fonterra in November last year were accompanied by small packages of milk powder that subsequently tested positive for the presence of a concentrated form of 1080.
The letters threatened to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 unless New Zealand stopped using the poison for pest control by the end of March 2015.
Sodium monofluoroacetate, known as 1080, is a poison used to protect New Zealand's native flora and fauna against introduced pests such as possums and ferrets.
Its use has been controversial over the years with opponents saying it poisons non-target animals and contaminates the environment.
