WELLINGTON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A young Vietnamese couple are facing drug charges in New Zealand after allegedly receiving methamphetamine packages from Canada, New Zealand Customs officials said Thursday.
Customs officers linked the pair to three packages containing a total of 11.6 kg methamphetamine with a potential street value of up to 11.6 million NZ dollars (8.09 million U.S. dollars).
The drugs were concealed inside a home drinking water system in one package, and in the packaging of two consignments of alloy wheel trims, said a customs statement.
The packages had different names and addresses of Auckland inner-city apartments, but customs investigators linked them to the couple living in one of the apartments.
They were arrested after customs officials searched their apartment on March 31, where a further 900 grams of methamphetamine, 800 grams of cannabis, 13,000 NZ dollars (9,066 U.S. dollars) in cash, and drugs paraphernalia were located.
The man, 23, and the woman aged 25 appeared in the Auckland District Court Thursday, facing multiple charges and were due to reappear in court on May 2.
Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry said criminals kept trying different tactics for smuggling drugs into the country.
"This four-month operation is a great example of how Customs uses intelligence to link several shipments to the same criminal syndicate and hold them accountable," Berry said in the statement.
