WELLINGTON: An Auckland man has been jailed for importing drugs that could make $5 million worth of methamphetamine. Customs said Shulai Fan was sentenced at Auckland District Court on Thursday.
The 35-year-old was given six years and four months in prison and ordered to forfeit $64,890 in cash for importing 18.6 kilograms of the drug ephedrine, which is used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The drugs Fan imported in 2014 could have been used to make 5.6kg of meth, which has a street value of about $1m a kilogram. Fan is one of four offenders jailed for eight importations of ephedrine, weighing a total of almost 65kg, from China last year, Customs said.
Two males and a female pleaded guilty to related charges late last year after Customs intercepted courier packages containing ephedrine concealed in power adaptors and cigarette packets.
They are currently serving prison sentences between six and eight years – the four have been sentenced to a total of 28 years in prison. Thursday’s sentencing marked the end of Operation Mohawk Customs investigations manager Maurice O’Brien said the investigation was launched after several courier packages from China were intercepted and linked to the four offenders.
“We worked closely with New Zealand Police to connect the offenders to their international supply chain, and successfully dismantled an elaborate drug network,” O’Brien said.
