Busy time for customs

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 2

Busy time for customs

This year is off to a busy Start for Christchurch customs officers who have seized two cars and taken possession of three soggy bundles of cannabis in the last fortnight.

The chief customs officer (enforcement) in Christchurch, Mr B. W. Ford, said yesterday that the two cars had been seized by customs officers in two separate incidents. In both cases it was suspected that documents had been falsified to assist the entry of the cars into New Zealand, he said. The vehicles involved were a Trans Am Pontiac valued

about $25,000 and a Mazda 626 valued about $BOOO. One car had been seized from a private address after it had been brought into the country, while the other had been seized at a customs examining place. The seizings were made as the result of inquiries by investigating officers, Mr Ford said. The inquiries were continuing and a decision on prosecutions would be made later, he said. In a separate incident, a waterfront employee found a blue plastic bag by a breakwater near Cashin Quay. He handed the parcel to a passing customs officer.

It contains three blocks of cannabis which had been in the water for “a considerable time,” Mr Ford said. The package was similar to those found in other seizings, Mr Ford said, and this led him to believe that it originated from South Africa. The cannabis had a weight of 3kg, which would reduce to Ikg if the cannabis was dry, he said. It would have a street value of about $5OOO.