A Hong Kong man was jailed Friday for 10 years and five months for importing methamphetamine into New Zealand under the guise of chicken stock powder.
Tat Yan Chau had attempted to smuggle 2 kilograms with an estimated street value of 2 million NZ dollars (1.4 million U.S. dollars) into New Zealand, said New Zealand Customs officials.
Customs officers at the International Mail Centre in Auckland stopped a package from China in July last year to take a closer look after an x-ray showed "inconsistencies" in 10 cans of chicken stock.
Hidden inside the tins were plastic bags containing methamphetamine, Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry said in a statement.
Investigations linked the package to Chau, who had arrived in New Zealand as part of a tour group from Hong Kong in mid-June, but did not depart with the group.
Customs officers raided an Auckland address where Chau was staying and arrested him.
"The knowledge and skill of our frontline officers and the targeting tools that are in place means Customs is pretty good at identifying what looks suspicious, making the drug seizure, and connecting the package to those responsible," said Berry.
