NZ Customs Minister praises China-led anti-drug smuggling work

New Zealand Customs Minister Nicky Wagner on Friday praised the China-led working on fighting international drug smuggling, which helped in a major operation last week.

The joint operation between China's customs authorities in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and the Australian Federal Police resulted in a 106-kg methamphetamine seizure and seven arrests.

Investigations began when New Zealand Customs passed information to its overseas counterparts following a drugs interception in New Zealand, and the discovery that the crime ring was using express mail to deliver drugs packages to New Zealand and Australia.

"This latest drug bust is a fantastic example of the results we 're getting by working with Customs authorities around the world," Wagner said in a statement.

China Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau was leading work on anti- drug smuggling between the administrations of New Zealand, Australia and China, with agencies working collectively to disrupt syndicates.

Collaboration between the authorities is vital to combat the drug trade and during a meeting with Chinese Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs Sun Yibiao last week "we agreed to continue participating in multilateral initiatives to combat drug trafficking", said Wagner.