WELLINGTON, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- A 38-year-old Brazilian drug courier appeared at New Zealand's Manukau District Court for trial on Monday.
The man arrived from Chile to New Zealand's Auckland Airport on Sunday and was questioned by the customs. A baggage search revealed inconsistencies in his suitcase, and the drug identification device found three kg of cocaine, worth up to 1.3 million NZ dollars (900,000 U.S. dollars) in his suitcase.
Customs Manager Passenger Operations at Auckland Airport Peter Lewis said that risk-assessing, questioning and searching luggage is part of everyday airport operations.
"It is not uncommon to find drug couriers trying to sneak through as legitimate travelers," Lewis said, adding that as the customs gears up for increasing travel volumes over the summer, "we will be putting just as much focus on drug couriers."
The customs has arrested seven drug couriers at Auckland Airport in the last three months. They arrived from Thailand, Chile, and Brazil, carrying a total of over 20 kg of either methamphetamine or cocaine, the customs statement said.
Based on the New Zealand Drug Harm Index, these seizures have prevented around 25.7 million NZ dollars (17.8 million U.S. dollars) of additional harm to communities.
