CUSTOMS/Supplied
Customs says “trusted insiders” are being used to bring tobacco into the country (file pic).
Smuggling tobacco into Aotearoa is on the rise – and customs believes “trusted insiders” are increasingly playing a leading role in the illicit business.
Smuggling is becoming “increasingly attractive to organised crime groups” as cigarette prices across the country continue to rise, says the New Zealand Customs Service 2021/22 Annual Report released in February.
But as the threat of tobacco smuggling increases, so does the threat of “trusted insiders” aiding that smuggling, customs said.
Stuff is aware of three recent cases that involved “trusted insiders” using their privileged positions to subvert Customs control and smuggle illicit contraband into the country.
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A trusted insider can be anybody who has privileged access or control over any part of the customs supply chain, chief customs officer for fraud and prohibition Nigel Barnes told Stuff.
“They can be anyone from employees of courier companies to somebody who has access to secure areas of an airport or port,” Barnes said.
Organised crime syndicates “subvert” trusted insiders and convince them – for example, through enticement or intimidation – to help move illicit goods without detection.
Barnes pointed Stuff towards a court case from 2017 that wasn’t reported at the time, where five NZ Post employees were convicted of defrauding the revenue of customs.
The five NZ Post employees, alongside one other person, worked together to smuggle 855,600 cigarettes into New Zealand – with the revenue evasion totalling over $700,000.
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The group co-ordinated parcels of cigarettes from Korea, and then intercepted them in the New Zealand Post International Mail Centre.
They would remove the packages from a mail belt and put them in the delivery area, before they were supposed to be x-rayed and cleared.
The cigarettes were sold on the black market.
Other examples of “trusted insiders” include six Air New Zealand baggage handlers who imported close to half a tonne of methamphetamine from Malaysia and the US into New Zealand, and three Air China employees who would take cigarettes and other dutiable goods from Air China planes directly, without declaring them.
Stuff contacted all three entities for comment and asked what, if anything, had they done to enhance security. Air New Zealand and NZ Post declined to comment. Air China did not respond.
There are a number of other investigations ongoing, Barnes said.
“In today’s world, tobacco is a very profitable commodity.
“If you were somebody who wanted to sell illicit products, you could make a lot of money selling illicit tobacco and there would be less personal risk than if you were involved in drugs, for example,” Barnes said.
He said easy access to cheap tobacco in the Asia-Pacific regions created a “natural pull” for New Zealand and Australia. It leads to increased levels of illicit tobacco smuggling.
“People who engage in smuggling tobacco should not only expect to get caught but also lose all of their ill-gotten gains.”
In the 2022/2023 budget, New Zealand Customs received an additional $10.4 million in funding to be distributed over the next four years.
The funding will be used to set up a dedicated illicit tobacco investigation team, as well as intelligence and forensic support for tobacco investigations.
“This will allow us to treat the increased levels of tobacco smuggling as the organised crime issue that it is, rather than just people having a go at getting some cheap cigarettes,” Barnes said.
Since 2019 customs’ tobacco investigations have led to criminal charges for people smuggling over 17 million cigarettes and at least 13.5 tonnes of tobacco into Aotearoa.
