A customs officer found the drug P (methamphetamine) in a tourist’s luggage last week at Auckland airport. Other members of the tour party were searched and a total of 8kg of P was found. Seven tourists were arrested and are now in prison, waiting for a trial. They are all men, in their mid-20s, from Taiwan.

The drug P sells on the street for between $700 and $1,200 a gram so this was worth at least $6m. Sometimes drugs are found by dogs but this time, a customs officer checked a small plastic bag during a search of luggage.

The drug P is a big problem in New Zealand. However, the number of drug users is dropping as police and customs are working hard to stop supplies. Last year, two men from China who smuggled P into New Zealand, were sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Questions to think about

It costs around $20,000 a year to keep one person in prison. Do we want to pay to keep 7 people from another country in prison for 16 years? What would happen to them if we sent them back to their country?