A Hong Kong woman was jailed Monday for smuggling 1 million NZ dollars (713,100 U.S. dollars) worth of methamphetamine hidden in pork cans into New Zealand.
Sui Man "Christine" Ip was sentenced at the Auckland High Court to nine years and three months in jail for importing the drug, said a statement from the New Zealand Customs service.
She would have to serve at least half her jail-term before facing deportation.
Ip arrived in New Zealand on Jan. 20 and moved into an Auckland home the same day.
Two weeks later, a package of assorted food items mailed from Hong Kong was x-rayed and Customs found three cans labeled "stewed pork ribs" were actually filled with a total of just over 1 kilogram of methamphetamine.
Customs investigators linked the package to Ip, and she was arrested at Auckland International Airport in early March as she tried to leave the country.
Customs investigations manager Maurice O'Brien said it was not uncommon for offenders to come into the country solely to "catch" and redeliver drugs.
"Customs is well aware of the tricks criminals use and has systems in place to catch them - however the drugs are canned," O'Brien said in the statement.
"We work closely with our border partners in Hong Kong to tackle shipments at the supplier end, and this is very successful."
Earlier this month Customs said a Hong Kong man could face life in a New Zealand prison after officers seized drugs worth 20 million NZ dollars (14.26 million U.S. dollars) being smuggled in sets of spatulas.
Customs officers intercepted an air cargo shipment from Hong Kong of 80 boxes of 24-piece spatula sets at the end of July, and each set came with a 250-gram methamphetamine packet hidden under the box, totaling about 20 kilograms.
