WELLINGTON: New Zealand Customs officer foiled attempts to smuggle in more than 1,000 kilograms of illegal drugs in 2014, with stashes stuffed inside Winnie the Pooh pillows, camouflaged as breath mints and stashed in a can of porridge oats, the customs service said.
Manager Jonathan Morten said customs officers were trained to have an eye for detail and a strong sense of suspicion and were bemused by an attempt to import a can of porridge oats. The can was later found to contain 3.5 grams of methamphetamine.
A collection of children’s Winnie the Pooh and Micky Mouse pillows were found to be stuffed with pseudo-ephedrine – not polyester cushion filling – while a 2-kilogram shipment of mints contained tablets of pressed ephedrine, not the “powerful fresh breath” mints promised on the box.And just like in a Hollywood movie, a cheap ceramic statue was found to have methamphetamine hidden inside.
“If you can hide drugs in it, criminals will try it,” Morten said.
