NZ arrests Brits in million dollar meth bust

New Zealand police said on Friday they arrested two British men after discovering tens of millions of dollars' worth of methamphetamine stashed in an Auckland apartment.

Police uncovered 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of meth with a street value of NZ $144 million (€83 million, $93 million) concealed in plastic storage containers.

Newman confirmed that police arrested a 60-year-old man at the apartment and a 49-year-old man at Auckland Airport.

The two men have been charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to supply and are being held in jail.

Read more: N. Zealand police uncover cocaine in bejeweled horse-head

Cocaine washes up on beach

The meth bust follows the unrelated discovery of cocaine on an Auckland beach that police say drifted some 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) across the Tasman Sea from Australia.

Detective Inspector Colin Parmenter said that Australian authorities intercepted an inflatable boat off the northern coast of New South Wales in August 2018. The two people who were arrested at the time were seen throwing packs of cocaine into the sea.

Parmenter said that most of the cocaine had since been recovered and that the drugs washed ashore in Auckland matched the markings and packaging of the Australian drugs.

Further parts of the shipment were found at various locations along Australia's eastern coastline, from northern Queensland to New South Wales.

Police say that "there remains a small possibility of further packages turning up" and are carrying out helicopter sweeps over Bethells Beach.

Due to the country's isolated location, drugs such as methamphetamine fetch higher prices than in most parts of the world. The monetary value of cocaine in New Zealand is one of the highest in the world.

mvb/amp (AFP, AP)

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