Asia

Bungled boat trip leads New Zealand police to big drug haul

Police find half a ton of amphetamines in RV.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand // When three strange men went round offering wads of cash in exchange for help in launching a boat from a remote beach in New Zealand, the locals were naturally suspicious. Rightly so, as it turned out. When police caught up with the threesome, they found nearly half a ton of methamphetamines stashed away in their vehicle — the biggest haul of the drug ever found in New Zealand.

The drugs were in dozens of small plastic bags and mesh sacks stuffed into suitcases. But that wasn’t all. Police also retrieved a hand-held GPS containing co-ordinates which led to another stash of drugs buried in sand dunes.

Police Superintendent Russell Le Prou said at least six local people in Kaitaia, at the northern tip of New Zealand, had alerted the police to three men who were driving a Toyota SUV and a camper van and offering large sums of money to help them launch a small boat from Ninety Mile Beach.

Officers found the boat abandoned on the sands on Sunday with some mesh bags on it and then saw the Toyota drive past. They gave chase and pulled the vehicle over at a nearby golf course and arrested two men, aged 31 and 26. A few hours later, police spotted the camper van driving through a nearby town and arrested the 19-year-old driver. Inside they found 448 kilos of methamphetamines, more than the amount seized during the whole of 2015.

Examination of the GPS in the vehicle revealed a set of co-ordinates which led to a spot on the sand dunes on Ninety Mile Beach, close to where the smugglers’ boat. had been abandoned. Buried in the sand were another 46 kilos of methamphetamines.

Police also seized another boat from a local address which is believed to be involved in the smuggling operation.

Many of the bags showed signs of exposure to salt water. “You may infer from that it’s possibly been left out at sea for a while and picked up by that smaller boat,” said Supt Le Prou.

New Zealand has one of the highest levels of amphetamine use in the world, according to the United Nations world Drug Report of 2011.

“Wherever this methamphetamine was headed it was going to cause harm and it’s thanks to the Kaitaia community who were not going to tolerate this, that we’ve managed to stop harm from this massive haul.”

The three suspects appeared in Kaitaia district court on Tuesday charged with importing Class A drugs and possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply.

* Associated Press

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Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid

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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

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German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

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While you're here
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

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