Woman Arrested for Bringing £1.7M in Meth Disguised as Christmas Gifts on International Flight

A Canadian woman, let’s call her Mrs. Claus, brought gifts to the children of New Zealand. Sadly, her gifts were seized by New Zealand customs officials in Auckland after arriving from Vancouver bearing gifts — 10 kilograms of meth wrapped up as Christmas gifts.

The gifts of the meth, wrapped in bright red wrapping paper covered in crisp white snowflakes, were nestled within a red duffel bag. The customs officials found the drugs after a routine inspection. A customs official interviewed by CNN says that transnational organized crime groups try to exploit the busyness of the Christmas season. In 2023, someone tried to smuggle 713 kg of meth in big jugs of maple syrup.

Mrs. Claus’ bags were run through the X-ray machine, the result of which immediately tipped off the customs agents. To me, the blurry bright green mess of the X-ray image looks more like Mrs. Claus was trying to smuggle The Grinch into New Zealand, but apparently, an X-ray tech took one look at that and immediately thought “meth.”

All told, the Christmasy meth seized by customs officials would have been worth up to $2.2 million in American money. That’s what 22 pounds of meth can get you in New Zealand. For perspective, the 713 kg of math that was smuggled in via jugs of maple syrup last year would have sold for an estimated $150 million US.