WELLINGTON, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Latvian man who tried to smuggle methamphetamine hidden in baby carriers and tie boxes into New Zealand was jailed for six years on Wednesday.
Arturs Stasevskis, 20, had been convicted of importing and possessing methamphetamine, said the New Zealand Customs service.
Stasevskis arrived in New Zealand from Dubai on March 12 and was stopped by Customs at Auckland International Airport, said a statement from Customs.
During a search of his luggage, officers located 1.1 kilograms of methamphetamine, with a potential street value of 1.1 million NZ dollars (801,130 U.S. dollars), hidden in tie boxes and seven baby carriers.
Investigations established Stasevskis had been given the baby carriers and tie boxes along with baby clothing and shoes in Riga, Latvia, after he agreed to smuggle the drug into New Zealand, where it would be collected and he would be paid.
Customs investigations manager Maurice O'Brien said the case was a classic example of an offender who got greedy and acted as a drug courier.
"Customs has many different ways to identify these high risk passengers and stop them at the border," O'Brien said in the statement.
