writer: Kurt Zindulka

"echinawire.com"





Peter Gardner, a New Zealander, will learn in the next few weeks if he will indeed face a firing squad execution for trying to smuggle 30 kg of methamphetamine. The drugs have an estimated value of over 25 million dollars.





In November of 2014, Gardner and his then girlfriend Kalynda Davis were trying to board a flight to Australia from Guangzhou, when they both were arrested. Davis was later set free and returned to Australia.







Kalynda Davis





Gardner claims that he was tricked into smuggling the meth, believing that it was just steroids, which are legal. In the course of the trial it was revealed that he had previously made a trip to China to purchase steroids, peptides and tanning supplies.





He said that he met an Australian man named ‘James’, who told him to go to the Guangzhou Hilton Hotel. He was met by two Chinese men, who gave him two black suitcases that were sealed shut, and in return he gave them 13,000 dollars. Gardner said that he didn’t check the contents of the suitcases.







Peter Gardner





He said that “It should have been peptides, I was stupid. I thought it was so easy. I got ahead of myself.”





Prosecutors dismissed Gardner’s arguments, saying that they defying “common sense”, as he would have checked the contents before handing over such a large sum of money. They also say that they found his DNA around the packaging of the methamphetamine.







A Chinese Firing Squad





China has been making a push against foreign drug users and sellers. By the latest survey conducted in 2013, there were some 1,963 foreigners arrested that year and over 5 tonnes of drugs seized. Many of these arrests come from Guangzhou, which is considered one of the major meth manufacturing hubs in China.





Gardner’s lawyer says that they are expecting a verdict in the trial by the end of April, and that that there will be a ten day period in which an appeal can be made.



