NZ Customs Release Issue 683

Thirty-two-year-old Sami Zagros was sentenced to 16 years in jail at the High Court in Christchurch today on a series of drug smuggling, money laundering and related charges resulting from an extensive Customs-led investigation in 2018.

Senior representatives of the New Zealand Transnational Crime Unit (NZTCU) and its partner agencies, including Australian and Pacific Island partners, gathered in Auckland today to mark the official confirmation that the NZTCU will continue its operations with Pacific partners.

The NZTCU is part of a multi-agency partnership sharing investigative and intelligence capability to combat transnational crime in the Pacific.

1News recently took a behind-the-scenes look at work of the Department of Conservation's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) team in Auckland.

Customs is part of the multi-agency partnership which delivers this important work protecting some of the planet's most vulnerable flora and fauna.

After almost 11 years, cruise ships have returned to Lyttelton Port in Christchurch. Following the 2011 earthquakes, the port was badly damaged and was unable to take cruise ships. Instead, Customs and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) allowed cruise ships to visit the nearby Akaroa Harbour.

On Thursday, 27 October 2022 the Celebrity Eclipse, with approximately 2600 passengers was the first cruise ship to arrive for the season and was quickly followed the next day by the similar sized Grand Princess.

One in five New Zealanders are disabled, and it's vital that everyone can access information and services provided on government websites. The New Zealand Web Accessibility Standard provides a guide to creating web content. However, there is a gap in our skills and understanding of web accessibility.

The Department of Internal Affairs has been working with the Web Standards team to create an All-of-Government video about web accessibility.