Part of the massive haul of 200kg of ephedrine

A police and Customs crack down has resulted in two of the biggest drug seizures in the country, worth $170 million.

Police on Friday announced they had made their largest-ever seizure of ephedrine, nabbing 200 kilograms of the chemical used to make methamphetamine or P. Hours earlier, Customs revealed they had seized $20m of P at Auckland Airport - the most ever seized at a New Zealand airport.

The ephedrine was smuggled inside 80 boxes of paper sent from China and had the potential to make around $150m of methamphetamine.

SUPPLIED 200kg of ephedrine was hidden inside cavities of suspicious looking boxes of paper.

Police said the consignment was stopped by Customs at the border in late April.

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Inside the boxes, ephedrine had been hidden inside cavities within the stacks of paper.

The "suspicious consignment" of 80 boxes of paper sent from China.

The record setting meth seizure was found in the luggage of two Czech Republic nationals who arrived on a flight from Bangkok on Thursday afternoon.

After questioning from Customs officers, the pair's luggage was searched and 20kg of meth was discovered in false bottoms of two suitcases.

Both men were arrested and charged with importing a class A drug, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The cavities carrying the ephedrine were hidden inside stacks of paper.

As part of the ephedrine investigation, nine search warrants were carried out on Friday at residential addresses across Auckland by the Organised Crime team.

Three men, aged 31, 34 and 32, were arrested after the searches, which spanned from Ponsonby and central Auckland, to Mt Roskill, Hillsborough, and Flat Bush.

The men have been charged with the importation of a class B controlled drug and possession of a class B drug for supply. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the 200kg of ephedrine had the potential to make around 150kg of meth which would have a street value of $150m.

"The public is increasingly familiar with the harm that this drug causes, and so to have stopped this importation from eventually making its way into the community is very significant.



"Though this is a great seizure and the circumstances seem like something out of a movie, the reality is there are families out there who are being destroyed by meth, kids who are growing up in contaminated homes and innocent people who are victims of serious crime as a result of this drug."

Calling it a "truly awful drug", he said the seizure and arrests were a good demonstration of how law enforcement agencies worked together to target the trafficking of drugs in New Zealand.

The previous largest seizure of ephedrine was around 95kg found concealed in toys in October 2015.