More than 360kg of methamphetamine has been seized at New Zealand’s borders in the first eight months of this year, according to figures released under the Official Information Act by Customs. That is an increase of more than 15% on the quantity seized throughout the entirety of last year and four times what was seized in 2014.
The figures showed a massive increase in the amount of the "NBOMe" hallucinogenic seized.
Seizures of cocaine and ecstasy are up on last year, while more than 760kg of ephedrine — often used in the manufacture of methamphetamine — was seized this year.
Neither Customs nor police were able to make any staff available for interview or comment on the subject.
But New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said there were many factors at play.
The Ministry of Health’s latest Drug Harm Index report showed there were 388,000 users of drugs in New Zealand, but the vast majority used cannabis.
The number of methamphetamine users had declined compared to about six or seven years ago when New Zealand was "seen as one of the world’s highest users of meth".
Increased seizures could be due to better law enforcement and more resources.
Anecdotally, he said drugs were becoming more common in provincial towns but use in the large urban centres, where the problem was so rampant six years ago, had declined.
Little research had been done to show why methamphetamine came through New Zealand’s borders, he said.
"Are we a transit country or a destination country or an export country?"
He pointed to the example of 500kg of methamphetamine found on a Northland beach earlier this year.
"No-one knows if that half-tonne of meth was coming in or whether it was going out."
He suspected annual domestic use of methamphetamine in New Zealand would be lower than 500kg.
However, one area of consumption showing growth was in synthetic drugs intended to mimic other substances.
"What we have at the moment is a whole lot of chemicals that are being cooked up, probably very dangerous chemicals, that are being made to mimic older more well-known drugs," he said.
He pointed to NBOMe, a psychedelic drug designed to mimic LSD.
"These are being bought online and being brought into the country through the black market," he said.
"People buying these drugs don’t really know what they are taking and getting themselves into trouble. They are putting themselves at huge risk of overdose."
The biggest risk was not knowing the chemical composition of the drugs and their effects.
"There’s significant health risks,’’ he said.
"We had a death earlier this year ... from these new drugs," he said.
● National Poisons Centre 0800 764-766, Alcohol Drug Helpline 0800 787-797.
